


Gabriel

by Colamiilk



Series: Because I Love You [2]
Category: Soul Eater
Genre: A bit of Honey Potting, Abduction, But it really doesn't feel like it, Can that be a verb?, Established Relationship, Giriko puts up with so much, Graphic Depictions of Torture, Justin 'Praise Kink' Law, M/M, Medical Procedures, Mentions of conditioning, Minor Character Death, Murder, No Plot, No remorse from anyone here rip, Redemption AU, Self-Indulgent, Stitching mostly, can I make, into a permanent tag, it is now i guess, just violence, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2020-07-27 02:01:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20038069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colamiilk/pseuds/Colamiilk
Summary: Giriko had lost. Had come back beaten up in more ways than one. He was bloodied and bitter. Angry and inconsolable. Recovery wasn’t going to be fast, but Justin had a feeling about how he could speed it up.





	1. Fix

**Author's Note:**

> Read the warnings, theres nothing holy here just a whole lot of poorly handled emotions.

Giriko had lost.

He had stumbled back to their apartment and fell in front of Justin in a bloody heap with a horrible groan. There was a second that Justin just stared at the mangled mess of a man weirdly curled up at his feet. Blood trailed in thick pools all the way from their door, and probably out their door and down the street. When the shock finally passed and Justin finally realized exactly what was happening his nose wrinkled into something awful and disgusted. He pushed back the chair he was in, getting himself away from all the dripping blood. The way that Giriko reached for his ankle as he scooted away made Justin’s skin crawl.

The smell of blood and torn skin was so heavy and choking coming off of Giriko that Justin seriously considered dumping a bucket of water on him to see if that would help. Why had Giriko come here? A hospital surely would’ve been closer and far more helpful than Justin would be. Looking over the enchanter’s body he noticed the other's twisted destroyed leg and the blood trail leading to it. Justin sighed. It was obvious something needed to be done right now, that dragging Giriko to the hospital would be riskier than just dealing with it himself. 

Moving to pick up Giriko’s heavy body the enchanter weakly held back onto him, rather trying to help support his weight or just looking for some kind of comfort. Justin rolled his eyes and threw the man’s brutalized body up onto their table. The way Giriko’s face knotted up was angry, pained and confused. He was looking for some kind of answer as to why he was on a table surely, but Justin didn’t care enough to explain. He shoved all his paperwork and miscellaneous shit he was working with off, making more room for the enchanter while also saving everything from getting blood stained. It must’ve made a hell of a loud noise based on the way Giriko jumped out of his skin. Justin was more concerned about the glass of water that had landed on his foot and soaked the end of his pants. As if his mood wasn’t bad enough already.

“Justin what the fuck?” Apparently Giriko still had enough energy to speak, or at least had summoned up enough of it to complain about his rough mistreatment. Again, Justin ignored him, he was too busy thinking about the medical kit he had gotten from the academy forever ago. It should have what he needed in it, but he didn’t have anything that’d knock Giriko out. Sleeping medicine wouldn’t do shit here. Grimacing Justin wondered if he should find something to tie Giriko up here. He supposed that wasn’t necessary though. All of this wouldn’t be any worse than what Justin had done to himself before, it was all stomachable. Or at least it should be for someone like Giriko. 

Walking towards the cabinets Justin glanced back at the enchanter’s limp form spilling weirdly off their too small table. He looked like some weird doll that had been bent around in a way only a child could manage to do without feeling uncomfortable. Maybe the bed would’ve been better… a thick drip of blood splashed off the table and Justin’s mouth twisted into something repulsed. No. The table was fine. They wouldn’t have to throw out their whole mattress this way. 

Luckily it wasn’t too hard to find the kit in the mess that was their kitchen, it was completely unmoved from where Justin had put it long before he even knew Giriko, covered in dust. The freezing cold metal of the med kit started to warm under his hands immediately, unfortunately the dust wasn’t interested in just disappearing like that. Justin glared horribly as he wiped what had gotten stuck on his hands off on his coat. He didn’t have time for this, or at least didn’t want to take the time for this. Digging around in the cabinets for a disinfectant his hands closed around an old worn bottle of rubbing alcohol that had been shoved in the back so long ago that Justin took a moment to consider if these kind of things could expire. Surely not. Regardless it’d be better than nothing. 

Heading back to the main room Justin lamented the fact that Giriko had gotten beaten up like this at night, their lighting wasn’t great and doing all of this in the weird golden yellow of their shitty overhead wasn’t going to be fun. Giriko seemed to be having similar qualms, or maybe was just ansty about first aid. Whichever it was Justin didn’t care. He didn’t bother to look at the man and show interest in what he was clearly thinking himself into hell over. If Giriko wanted to whine he shouldn’t of gotten hurt like this. 

Throwing the kit in between Giriko’s legs his glare got even worse when the man flinched. Why had he come here if he didn’t want to be fixed? Justin was doing him a favor here, the least he could do was not make it harder than it needed to be. Taking a heavy breath outward Justin tried to calm himself down. He was horribly angry, he  _ should  _ be horribly angry, but not at Giriko. At least not yet. Justin wasn’t convinced that the enchanter was going to be cooperative here yet. 

The loud pop of the metal latches coming undone made Giriko jump again and Justin couldn’t stop himself from looking over at the enchanter with an arched brow. Why the hell was he so jumpy? Living in hiding for so long and being a part of Arachnophobia he should have experience with less than ideal medical intervention. There was no way he had never lost before, he had lost plenty against Justin himself when they were still enemies after all. 

With that Justin blinked. He hadn’t realized it until now, but he had never really caused any serious damage on the enchanter. Giriko had always been far too quick to run away. The second that he started to lose he had always retreated in a flash, slipping away on his chains before Justin even think about grabbing on. His losses were undoubtedly humiliating because he had to leave with his tail between his legs, but they always ended with him undamaged. 

Oh  _ god _ . Did all of that really mean Giriko really was a coward when it came to pain? That was going to make this a living nightmare. Justin could already feel himself getting exhausted and fed up and they hadn’t even started. Pinching the bridge of his nose he rubbed the corners of his eyes and sighed. He supposed there was no point in prolonging this. Pulling out a pair of scissors he ignored Giriko’s noise of confusion and started to cut through his pants. 

The denim was annoyingly hard to get through, even with the medically sharp scissors Justin was using. They were obviously made for labor work, made specially to not tear. When he finally managed to get the pant leg off of Giriko’s bloody twisted excuse of leg he threw it behind him with a fury, completely brushing off Giriko’s angry  _ ‘What the hell was that for!?’ _ It made sense the guy cared about the state of his pants right now. He was weird about that kind of stuff. Still, Justin was far too busy looking at the horrible winding gash that wrapped around Giriko’s ankle and a good deal of his leg to think about any of that. The target had been a whip meister, hadn’t he? Justin supposed that this was the answer as to why Giriko didn’t run. 

Pulling up a chair Justin started to look at the extent of the wound, it really was grotesque. Luckily it wasn’t shredded all the way around, just in parts that had been bitten into especially hard. The entire thing was bruised black though, and the dark clotting blood that had been sluggishly hardening to a scab got torn out with the removal of the enchanter’s pants, renewing the bright cherry red flow. It was more than just a little bit of a mess, Justin could even see hints of fraying muscle and living yellow bone in some of the deeper wounds. This was going to leave Giriko out of commission for quite awhile.

Justin didn’t tear his eyes away as he stood back up and reached for the bottle of alcohol and some gauze. Everything was still connected firmly to the bone, and the wounds were, thankfully, straight down, not hiding any deeper wells that could cause pitting or deeper tearing. This wasn’t going to be that hard. Giriko had managed to keep the wound fairly minor by not struggling against the whip. Whether or not that had been intentional on his part, it was a small blessing in all of this that Justin was thankful for. Unscrewing the cap of the alcohol Justin flicked it somewhere random and poured a good deal of it straight into Giriko’s wound. 

The reaction was immediate. Giriko screamed so loud that Justin could hear it through his headphones as he held the enchanter’s legs down. The way the wound bubbled in reaction proved that it was still working though. That it was doing what it was supposed to. Shooting a horrible glare at Giriko to tell him to sit still Justin was surprised to see Giriko was covering his face with one of his arms, his teeth bared in pain. He seemed to willing himself to sit through this. Trying to keep still, trying to work with the scythe. Justin let go reluctantly and looked back at the wound. It was a mess, but most of the grossness that was stuck in it had been rinsed out. Rubbing it down with gauze he poured some more alcohol in it, before drying it off with the gauze again. 

Giriko was sweating like a pig already. His back was arched up horribly and he was making an expression Justin had never seen on him before. He didn’t like it. He rifled through the first aid kit for needle and thread, trying to ignore the fact that he was working on Giriko right now. He knew if he let himself think about it too hard he’d get far too angry and make this hurt more than strictly necessary. He needed to distract himself from this. Threading the needle he sat back down and pulled Giriko’s leg towards him. The man flinched as he felt Justin pinch the loose edges of skin together. He was so tense with his fear that just watching him made Justin’s heart throb weirdly.

“What happened?” His voice was shriller than it normally was. It sounded forced and tiny, hoarse and pained. It was the first thing he had said since Giriko had gotten back and the enchanter was so surprised by it that he didn’t notice Justin dig the needle into his leg until it was too late. The horrible noise he made was so strangled that the scythe wasn’t all that surprised when it ended with him spitting something bile covered and gross onto their floor. Justin pulled the thread through gently, winding the excess around his fingers as he made sure the knot settled flush against the man’s yellow, jaundice affected skin. He really had to hurry this up, Giriko had lost more than enough blood here already. 

“So?” Giriko tensed up as he spoke this time, expecting Justin to pull the same trick. He didn’t, and looked up at the enchanter with a raised eyebrow that demanded an answer. Giriko laughed tiredly and wiped up his sweaty hair in relief. Justin forced the needle through again. 

“Fuck! Justin!” The way Giriko’s voice cracked on his name made him smile wryly. The enchanter’s body was so tense with the pain this time that it was actually hard for Justin to pull the stitch tight. Putting down the needle while he waited for the other to relax his leg Justin rested his head atop Giriko’s pointed knee. This was going to take forever if Giriko didn’t calm down. Justin might actually have to just sit on him and ignore his thrashing to get it done. Looking down at the enchanter he watched as Giriko huffed a tired noise and smiled in a mixture of anger and amusement. 

“How the fuck are you so good at that? Do you do this often?” It was a joke, Justin knew Giriko was joking because clearly he didn’t. Still he pulled back uncomfortably and started to mess with the wound again, pinching it shut and securing the last stitch as tightly as he could. He didn’t do stuff like this  _ often _ , but he had most certainly done it before. Albeit not like this. Usually he was trying to make it hurt. Slipping the needle through again he was slower this time, he watched how Giriko grit his teeth as he pulled it through with the utmost gentleness. He couldn’t tell if it hurt less that way. Pulling the thread taut again he secured the stitch and moved to loop up again. 

“It was Death’s stupid fucking mission,” Justin’s eyes widened as Giriko finally responded. He pulled the stitch he was working on a little tighter then he should’ve with the surprise, making Giriko flinch with a low strained groan. Guilt pooled in Justin’s stomach weirdly when he saw how a little bit of blood leaked out from the stitch. Digging around for a fresh piece of gauze he wiped the drip up before pressing down with enough pressure to bruise. Giriko whined again but Justin ignored it. He needed to help it clot before the enchanter lost even more blood. Giriko seemed to understand what he was doing well enough and didn’t argue, but the shaky breath he let out showed how little he was enjoying this. 

“Was it?” Giriko was shaking like a leaf, his knees knocking together and his knuckles white with his grip on the table. Justin released the gauze and Giriko gasped in relief. It was more than just relieving to see the bleeding had stopped, he really didn’t want to have to press back down the second Giriko started to relax. Wiping gently over the stitches he had already done he folded up the gauze in his hand and tossed it away. There was still a lot to do here, but at least Giriko was getting tired. It’d be a lot easier once he stopped tensing up and twitching. 

“I didn’t know the bastard owned the whole fucking bar. Didn’t expect everyone to defend him like he was some kind of fucking gang leader.” Justin bit his lip and peeled off a bit of skin. He didn’t know that either. He had only heard a bit about the mission, and hadn’t been paying that much attention because it wasn’t his own, but he hadn’t heard anything at all about a following. Which was a hell of a thing to omit. It was lucky Giriko made it out alive at all if that had really been the case. Something sick rolled in Justin’s stomach just thinking about it. Another two stitches looped through but the enchanter barely even blinked this time.

“I’m going to string that guy’s guts up like streamers next time.” Giriko’s teeth were on full display, wet and dripping with spit and all the leftover blood on his face. There was so much hatred coming off of him. He was so blinded by it that he didn’t seem to even feel the next few stitches Justin pulled tight. The atmosphere started to feel weird. Giriko was clearly in his own world right now, chewing on his horrible anger from that fight. Justin couldn’t decide if he was glad that he had distracted Giriko from the pain and was able to finish his stitching without much fuss or if he felt bad that he had reminded Giriko of his rather obvious defeat. 

He supposed it was a bit of both. He tied off the last stitch as tightly as he could before snipping the needle off and throwing it into the pile of used gauze. Giriko’s leg still looked like a wreck, and they were still parts that could probably use stitching, but the one that had looked life threatening was taken care of. Justin poured the last of the alcohol over the stitching and wiped off all the remaining blood and sweat. With everything all clean like this Justin could see that his stitch work wasn’t perfect, but it was a damn sight better than it normally was. Giriko was surprisingly cooperative, Justin hadn’t given him enough credit at the start of this.

Picking up a roll of surgical tape he messed with the end, trying to get it to unroll. Giriko wasn’t watching him, but he was still annoyed and embarrassed by how much trouble it was giving him. Finally unrolling a piece he stuck it gently over the wound and smoothed it down. The relief that came with cutting the end of the tape wasn’t as amazing as he thought it’d be. It was done. He had fixed it… but… Giriko still wasn’t fixed. He looked horrible. Exhausted and infuriated. It was obvious that now that Justin had tended to his wound, now that the threat of death was gone… his failure was coming down on his shoulders.

“I’m going to call Nygus to come get you.” Justin said it so quietly that he was half expecting Giriko to not even hear him. He moved towards their phone but before he could even take one step Giriko’s hand came down like a vice around his wrist. There was nothing said, neither of them were even breathing. There was such a horrible moment of tension between them before Giriko finally spoke.

“Why?” The anger in Giriko’s voice was so sharp and heavy that Justin couldn’t tell if Giriko was just upset about his fight or if he was actually mad at him. From the way the bones in Justin’s arm were starting to bend inward it seemed like it didn’t really matter which it was. Giriko was going to be awful to everyone, angry with everyone, until the hatred inside him started to die down. Justin sighed heavily.

“I need her to look at you, I can’t treat wounds like she can.” Giriko looked more than just unhappy with that answer, but not for any good reason. He was upset because it was far too reasonable, because he knew it was  _ unarguable _ . Giriko clearly wanted to get mad about it, but wasn’t really sure how he could yell about something as straightforward as that. His grip loosened for a second, but then he held on tighter. Justin couldn’t tell what he was thinking there. What he was hoping for holding onto Justin while he was so angry. The scythe didn’t have much time to consider it before Giriko finally found a response. 

“Didn’t you already fix it?” Well, he sounded like he was five, but he had indeed found a way to complain. Justin was almost impressed with his dedication in being a pain in the ass. The silence that stretched over them was awful. Justin hated having to explain the obvious, but he didn’t know any other way to move forward from this gross sticky atmosphere.

“It’ll get infected if she doesn’t give you anything.” Silence. Justin felt his eyebrow twitch in irritation. 

“They’ll give you pain killers.” Nothing. If it weren’t for the fact that Giriko was still bleeding all over their table and chairs with what looked like a massive head injury Justin would push him off the table with all the force he could manage. He was actually still thinking about doing it before Giriko finally responded. 

“Where are you going to go?” Justin blinked, more than just shocked by that question. Where was he going to go? Was he planning on going anywhere? Why did Giriko think he was going somewhere? He supposed he had said he was going to get Nygus to pick him up, and now that he was thinking about it… he had been planning on staying behind… But he wasn’t sure why. Why did he want to stay behind? His expression knotted up into something upset. There was something inside of him that knew what he wanted to do, but he was having a hard time figuring it out. He looked back down to the bloodied whip mark curled around Giriko’s leg. 

“I need to find the reports in this mess and go talk to Lord Death about what happened.” It was a boring, default answer. Said for the sole purpose of getting Giriko off his back. He knew where he wanted to go and it wasn’t to Lord Death. No… he couldn’t go there, not yet anyway. If he told Lord Death what had happened he’d send someone else to get Giriko’s target. Stealing the enchanter’s chance for revenge entirely. Giving him no way to right this failure. No way to rid himself of the venomous hatred he was clearly frothing with.

Giriko seemed to believe his fake answer. He let go of Justin’s wrist with an annoyed hesitance and started to grumble about nothing. Justin smiled piteously. Giriko was a wreck right now. Now that he had been reminded of his defeat he was really just drowning himself in it. He looked like he was being tortured by the intensity of his anger. Justin could tell without asking that Giriko wanted nothing more than to spill someone’s blood, to hurt anyone just to remind himself he wasn’t weak. It was a bit pathetic. 

Still, Justin knew that the enchanter wasn’t going to snap out of this bubbling, awful, toxic mood until he had that urge satisfied. Or at least until he was given some type of chance to prove himself. Justin knew how to give him that chance, he knew how to fix this.


	2. Hunt

By the time Nygus showed up Giriko had already passed out from exhaustion. Which was honestly a blessing. Justin couldn’t be more thankful he was unconscious when it was time to pass him over to the nurse. He’d undoubtedly be annoying and hesitant about it if he was awake. He’d probably be so unwilling that Justin would have to go with him like he was a kid that was scared to get a flu shot. It was no secret that Giriko hated being inside the DWMA with a passion, but normally he could stomach it. Unfortunately when it came time to get actual treatment from them it became more of a matter of trying to convince the enchanter that no, he wasn’t going to murdered and he’d be fine. It was exhausting. It was probably the reason he had come to Justin first despite that being a terrible idea. 

So with all of that considered, Justin knew Giriko was going to be fucking pissed with him when he woke up in the academy’s infirmary alone. He’d probably be bitter about it for days. If Giriko could do anything it was hold a grudge. Still, Justin wasn’t going to waste time here. He wasn’t going to sit around when there was something he needed to do. That’s why the second he convinced Nygus to leave him behind to look for the reports he did. He found Giriko’s mission report and read through it on their bloody floor. He needed to know where this bastard was hiding after all. If his base of operation was a bar he owned like Giriko had said there was a pretty good chance he’d still be there. Especially since Giriko wasn’t one to ever say that he was anywhere on the DWMA’s behalf. They probably thought the enchanter was just crazy. They probably weren’t expecting a follow up. With that idea in mind Justin ripped out the address page and ran to their bedroom to change out of his bloody clothes. 

As much as he lamented having to take off his heavy coat and cloak he realized halfway through undressing that it was probably for the best. Giriko had said the entire bar was on alert, defending his target as if he was their leader. Going in there dressed in his vestments was a great way to end up with far more fatalities than needed. The report had said that they only needed the one man, and Justin was only interested in getting that man. He didn’t care about the rest of his following, but he had to figure out a way to get him to willingly leave without them. 

Shrugging off his undershirt Justin felt his cap tumble off with it. A disguise. He needed something like that. He needed to seem like someone else. Someone unthreatening. He had to try to blend in and do this as sneakily as possible. If he managed to seem like everyone else in that bar then surely no one would have any qualms about him entering, and if he got his target to agree to come with him then surely his following wouldn’t stop him. Kicking off his pants Justin sat down on their bed, annoyed at all the blood still on him even with all his clothes off. Giriko was a hell of a bleeder. Where did even he keep all that blood? Justin really didn’t want to take a shower but he was starting to think he might have to. 

Going over to their bathroom he found some stray washcloth and wet it in the sink. This was a pain in the ass. Part of the reason he liked thick clothes was because he could usually avoid this. He supposed that was because he wasn’t ever as gentle as he had been with Giriko though. Never got that close or tried to be comforting like he had done tonight. That must’ve been why it was so bad today. It must’ve all gotten a chance to soak through while he was getting the other up on the table or have dripped down onto him while he was stitching. Whatever it was he was horribly sticky and reeked of blood and plasma. Rubbing his face he tried to work away the headache this was giving all of him. 

Luckily since his clothes had taken most of the brunt it didn’t take him too long to get it off of him, but the bloody smell was lingering. Whatever. Close enough. Throwing the stained towel off into the corner he went back to get dressed. This wasn’t going to be easy, he was already dreading trying to find something that’d fit in at some sleazy underground bar. He barely wore anything outside of his uniform, and when he did it was all so baggy and loose that it just screamed that he wasn’t interested. The best he had were undershirts, and they were still all long sleeved. He refused to admit defeat this quickly though. He’d get fucking scissors if it came down to it. Or maybe…

Looking over to where Giriko kept his clothes Justin approached it looking the other way, as if he was going to get caught. As if Giriko wasn’t passed out miles away getting his leg stitched up. Giriko had a lot of clothes that were… for lack of a better word indecent. Justin was more than sure he’d be able to find something that would let him blend into a lowlife hideout. After all Giriko was a low life himself, which was probably how he had gotten in to get beaten up in the first place. Justin was going to have a harder time looking dead enough inside to pull that off, but he was sure he could do it. Or at least knock whoever was guarding the door unconscious for long enough to get what he needed and get out. 

It was surprisingly hard to find something that he thought even had a chance of fitting on him. So many of them had wide enough collars and heavy though sleeves that Justin was scared they’d slide right over his thin shoulders and down onto the floor. The best he could find was Giriko’s old shirt from Loew, back when he was in disguise. It was a good shirt for disguises Justin supposed. Slipping it over his head he was embarrassed to admit that all he could think about was how much it smelled like Giriko. Justin’s face turned far redder than it should’ve when he realized he smelled not only like Giriko but also like his blood right now. 

Shaking those thoughts out of his head he grabbed a random pair of pants and pulled them on. Luckily he was about the same height as Giriko so he didn’t have to worry about tripping over them or anything like that. They bagged around his waist weirdly, but it wasn’t bad enough that he was all that worried. Shuffling back to their bathroom he found himself uncharacteristically worried looking into the mirror. 

He… He didn’t look like himself anymore. Which he supposed had been the entire point of this, but _ still _. It looked wrong. He felt wrong. He had never had this much skin exposed while also being fully clothed. It was even worse than he had expected putting it on. He was so much smaller than Giriko. He was so much smaller that the shirt didn’t fit right and bagged off of him enough that his entire chest was on display through rather the gaping arm holes or the deep collar. His face was turning horribly red just imagining going out like this. How did Giriko do this all the time? Didn’t he get cold at the very least? He must be hot blooded in more ways than just his temper to manage not freezing to death in this.

Looking back at the mirror Justin tried to look less uncomfortable. As much as he wanted to say this wasn’t going to work and he needed to find something else, he knew this _ was _going to work. As much as he hated this, it was exactly what he needed here. There was just one last thing. Taking out his headphones Justin grimaced. He didn’t want to take them out, especially not to go talk to people, but they were a dead giveaway to who he was. Without them though… and wearing this… Justin was having a hard time recognizing himself. 

With a final jittering sigh he stepped back. He could do this. He had hundreds of targets before, this man was no different. Well, he was, but only in the sense that Justin had a personal vendetta here. The glare on his face that had only just disappeared with his embarrassment came back in fold. He was going to get him back for this. For what he had done to Giriko and for forcing him into this situation. Turning on his heel he walked back out into their room in search of the address paper and his keys. 

It was still pretty early in the day, but the bar he was supposed to be in was actually pretty far. A few towns over far. Justin’s eyebrows knitted together reading that. How the hell had Giriko gotten all the way back here like that? Rubbing his face in exhaustion he realized that was probably why that one wound was so deep, the dumbass had undoubtedly been riding on his chains with it. He had probably ripped all his wounds and made them far deeper than they had originally been getting all the way back here. Once Justin was done here he was going to kill Giriko for being so stupid and reckless. 

Shoving what he needed into his pockets he left feeling horribly naked with his lack of headphones and just clothes in general. 

The ride took far, far longer than expected and when Justin finally managed to park his bike hidden behind a patch of trees it was dark. It was dark and Justin was exhausted. He spent a moment just rubbing his eyes still on top of his bike. Tonight, last night, and the night before. Justin hadn’t gotten to go to sleep with Giriko by his side for _ any _of them. This bastard had not only hurt Giriko but had taken three nights away from them by being so fucking far away. Ripping his keys out of the ignition Justin swung off. He was counting the hours at this point. He was going to remember every hour they had to deal with this man instead of being with each other. 

Glare on his face was absolutely ferocious, but as he approached the entrance he managed to twist it into something wide eyed and innocent. Harmless. He had to look harmless. Had to pass himself off as small and cute. That was how he was going to get what he wanted here. When he finally found himself in front of the man watching the door Justin had managed to make himself into that false image. He opened his mouth to request being let through, but before he could even breathe he was cut off.

“How old are you?” Justin blinked in surprise. He… really wasn’t expecting to be asked that. Did they really care about age in a place like this? They really weren’t the pinnacle of legality considering they were housing a target trying such outrageously stupid things that the DWMA had to send an elite, and now a death scythe to go deal with him. 

“18.” He wasn’t going to bother lying and say he was 21. He wasn’t, and the man in front of him undoubtedly knew he wasn’t. There was no point in playing here. Right now Justin was just hoping he wouldn’t care and would let him in anyway. A few seconds passed and the man’s glare grew darker, more questioning of why Justin hadn’t just turned around the second his age was questioned. The fact the man wasn’t telling him to leave was suspicious, there was something going on here. It was clear he was looking for something, perhaps a bribe or some kind of secret code. 

Justin couldn’t be bothered with it. His arm turned into it’s heavy headlock and he sent it crashing into the man’s head before he could even manage to yell in shock. The guy fell like a rock, crashing into the pavement with enough force for his head to split open. Justin’s nose wrinkled in disgust. Great, now he was going to have to try and drag his guy into the alley without getting any blood on him. Grabbing the man’s limp arm Justin dragged him across the rough concrete and tossed him back into the dark oblivion between the buildings. He’d wake up at some point or maybe someone nice would find him and take him to a hospital. Whatever happened it wasn’t the scythe’s problem anymore.

Brushing off his clothes he looked over himself, it seemed like everything was fine. He went back to the door and was pleased to see that it swung open without any fuss. A pleased smile fell over his lips with a little hum as he looked down the stairs that lead to what must’ve been the bar. It was a rather steep climb and he could only imagine Giriko trying to take small enough steps to not just slide down the whole thing. Justin’s heart pulled weirdly thinking of the enchanter. He wanted to be back with Giriko but also was more than ready to find his target for him.

Making it all the way down he rolled his eyes at the second door. Luckily this one was unguarded, and even propped open, but the weird level of ineffective security was annoying. So annoying that he was shocked to see how many people were waiting on the other side of the door. Justin had never been to any kind of bar before considering he was underage and also not interested, so he didn’t exactly know what was normal and what wasn’t. However, this seemed far more crowded than anything down a flight of narrow stairs should be. It felt like a fire hazard at the very least. 

Justin grimaced as he entered the mass of people. He _ hated _this. He had been here for exactly 30 seconds and he already knew he hated this. People kept brushing against him and since he wasn’t wearing much there was a weird amount of skin to skin contact every time some passed by. It was more than just a little overwhelming. Justin hadn’t had anyone besides Giriko touch any part of his skin, excluding his hands, in literal years. And as he was now discovering he very much liked it that way. He didn’t need or even want anyone but the enchanter touching him. He supposed that this was his incentive to find his target faster.

Shifting through everyone he looked for the man who looked like the one he had seen in the target photo. No one looked even close… Could this really not be the place? He was having a hard time believing it wasn’t but the guy didn’t seem to be here. Justin supposed he could just not be at the bar but then where the hell was he supposed to find him? Looking around again he found himself at a loss. He couldn’t just give up here… Where-?

“Who are you?” A shiver went up Justin’s spine like lighting and he spun around so fast that a woman who had been near him spilled a bit of her drink on herself. She seemed to be mad at him, but as soon as she noticed who had just spoken weirdly close to Justin’s ear she grumbled and looked away. Sure enough the person looking down at him with a far too smug smile matched the man in the photograph perfectly. Justin had to bite his tongue to not laugh in a mixture of relief and pity. How amazing was it that the man would come right to him?

“What do you mean? I’m a patron, what else would I be?” Justin’s own voice was making him sick, he sounded like he did when he was teasing Giriko. Like when he was trying to seem cutesy and dumb to be annoying because they both knew he wasn’t. This guy didn’t know he wasn’t. This guy didn’t know Justin wasn’t dumb and he was falling for it. He was brushing back his hair with a pitying and amused smile as if he had just stumbled into a naive treat. It took everything in Justin’s power to not grimace when he felt himself get pressed up against the bar counter. 

“I meant your name baby.” Justin had to break eye contact for a second. Had to calm himself down before he broke this guy’s nose and made the same mistake Giriko had. Justin laughed quietly imagining Giriko in this position. Ok, not the same mistake, there was no way Giriko had tried this, but the same general mistake. When he looked back he was relieved to see the other had taken his laugh as one of embarrassment. Justin was surprised at just how pleased this guy looked with himself right now, was he really that confident here? 

“Oh, I’m Justin.” He stretched out the ‘Oh’ as if coming to some kind of realization, looking up to the ceiling in a way that made him look as if thinking in a weird spacy kind of way. In reality he was just trying really hard to cover up how he had almost rolled his eyes there, but thankfully his target was stupid enough to assume he really was that out of it. The man tried to close his hands around Justin’s waist with an almost sleazy smile, but Justin caught his hands before they made contact. The smile he gave was innocent but there was something in the air, his target seemed to finally question what he was standing in front of. 

“Aren’t you going to tell me your name first?” Justin’s voice got the slightest bit dangerous there. Assertive. Promising that he wasn’t going to be a pushover here. There wasn’t any point in pretending he was one, he needed this guy out of here. He already knew that he was going to have to be a bit demanding to get that. It’d be better to show how stubborn he was now then to randomly switch after things got going. It’d look less like he was playing a trick if he made himself clear now. The man blinked, processing this change, but then his smile got wider, more interested.

“Gabriel, you're not the average kid are you?” With that Gabriel got even closer, to the point that their hips were pressing together, to the point that Justin had to lean back so their noses wouldn’t brush. This was awful. Part of him wanted to pull the arms he had to brace behind himself to not fall over out from under him and brain himself on the counter so he could just be out of this situation. Instead he just tilted his head and gave a dangerous smile. One that was so overly sweet that it tasted like poison on his lips. 

“What do you mean?” Gabriel had leaned forward to the point that their lips were almost touching but not quite. Justin could taste the smoke and alcohol already. He was breathing heavily, trying to keep himself calm, to not freak out and shove the other away. This was far too close. This was far too close and Justin’s anger and exhaustion was starting to turn into a sickly fear. Gabriel seemed to read his strained discomfort as a breathless excitement. Justin couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not. His fingers were twitching against the counter, his throat felt sticky and swollen. He had to stay still. He had to stay still if he wanted to get revenge.

“I _ mean _you know far more about what you’re doing here then you should.” Justin wanted to laugh. He had no idea what he was doing and that should be obvious to anyone with half a brain. His experience with catching targets was pretty much exclusive to ‘by means of violence or extortion’. This was something so entirely new to him and he was starting to think he was in over his head. It had been all fine when it was just talking, Justin was fine with bullshit conversations and all of that, but now that they were this close… this was overwhelming. He didn’t think it’d be all that overwhelming but it was. It really was. 

They were sweating under the hot lights and Justin could feel the other’s moist skin against his own. No one was paying them any mind because this was normal. This was normal but it didn’t feel normal at all. He felt Gabriel get even closer, moving to meet their lips, Justin let himself fall back and caught himself on his elbows with a thin dangerous smile. He could already tell his elbows were going to be horribly bruised from that sudden and violent drop, but the throbbing pain only added to the malicious quirk of his lips. He was angry enough that he could do this now. All his nerves were entirely whipped away with the sadistic desires bubbling in his stomach.

“What’s the fun in doing that now? Don’t you want to take me somewhere else first?” Gabriel looked to be in an utter state of shock over how fast Justin had fallen there, but moved past it fast enough with an amazed laugh. Finally, _ finally _he moved back and unpinned Justin from the counter. Justin couldn’t believe how relieved he was to have the use of his legs back. He stood back up to his full height and tried to ignore how much his hips hurt from being held onto like that. If he found out they were bruised he was going to learn how much pressure it’d take to shatter someone’s pelvis later. 

“Of course _ princess _.” Gabriel offered his hand over dramatically, rather trying to be funny or trying to show his annoyance with Justin’s hesitance. Whichever it was Justin couldn’t give less of a fuck, he took the man’s hand and rolled his eyes at how quickly the other started to pull him out of the bar. Again, no one even blinked at their rush to get outside- undoubtedly they were all used to couples stumbling out. No one would remember their exit, it wasn’t nearly interesting enough to process in anyone’s mind. No one would remember where exactly Gabriel had gone.

When Justin was yanked through the first door into the stairwell he found himself stumble into the other. The way Gabriel caught him with some kind of snarky comment made him want to vomit. Could they just get going already? At this point it was obvious that Justin had won, that the other was willing to follow him anywhere for the promise of pleasure. So really, Gabriel should be trying to hurry this up as much as possible for his own sake. Justin was still timing all of this, still taking note of everything he needed revenge for here. The faster Gabriel went here the less he was going to have to deal with later. 

Breaking away from the other’s arms Justin smiled at dejected expression he got and offered his hand the same way Gabriel had. The eye contact they shared was heavy, Justin was asking for his trust. Gabriel's fingers curled tight around Justin’s own, more than ready to see what the scythe had in store for him. More than ready to play with Justin. Justin smiled horribly, he knew how to play. He knew how to play more than anyone. Gabriel was underestimating the fun they were going to have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why I decided this to be the way Justin caught him but it was probably because I wanted an excuse to put him in Giriko's clothes. Hopefully it doesn't feel too weird or out of character aha. Next chapter Giriko will be back and conscious dw


	3. Recover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went a little overboard on this one... I had too much fun writing them argue.

Justin wasn’t an easy person to startle, he kept such a cautious eye on the world around him that he always saw things coming from a mile away. Even with his headphones he could just  _ feel  _ people coming up behind him and turn around before they got too close. His inarguably weird hyperawareness was undoubtedly the trained response of being touched far too many times by people he didn’t want touching him. Which would be an entirely different problem from a lack of awareness if it weren’t for the fact that they were always trying to get his attention. They were trying to get his attention and the fact that they needed to touch him to get it was his problem and not their own. 

Which is why he had to learn how to give them that attention before they got too close. Which was why he was so unbelievably good at knowing when someone was behind him. Which was why he shouldn’t be jumping out of his skin right now. 

“Justin? What the fuck are you doing out here?” Justin’s body stiffened up so dramatically at the sudden voice that he dropped the leather straps that tied his coffin to his bike and flinched when the hit the top of the wood with a heavy thump. He hadn’t been expecting to see anyone out here, much less  _ hear  _ someone. It was such a shock that he actually spent a moment just staring wide eyed out into the forest around him as he tried to understand what was happening here. 

It had to be at least 3AM right now, he had only just gotten back to the academy and dragged his bike somewhere hidden so he could unload his coffin and wheel it down to the DWMA’s basements. He was somewhere that wasn’t just hidden, it was somewhere behind a fence that only upper elites had the keys to. He wasn’t supposed to be able to be caught back here, he had never been caught before and even if someone were to, they’d undoubtedly know what the academy’s executioner was doing. So who?

Turning around with wide eyes Justin’s expression fell into annoyed disappointment to see Giriko staring back at him through the trees. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t been expecting that. Whenever there was anything going wrong the enchanter always had something to do with it. Quirking up his eyebrow in a silent question he waited for Giriko to explain himself. He only got a nasty glare in return, one that demanded him to answer first. So stubborn… 

“I was out.” The airy, dismissive way he said it made Giriko’s shoulders bunch up. He looked even more livid than he had been before, he looked like he was steaming with his anger. Justin could only smile jaggedly. He could tell Giriko was pissed that he hadn’t immediately started tripping over himself to answer just what he was doing. As if that was something he’d ever do. Giriko really should know better by now. 

“Where?” Giriko’s voice was so gritty that Justin had to wonder if the enchanter was hurting himself trying to hold all that anger back. It seemed like it from how red he was getting. How adorable. Giriko was adorable like this. He was so cute trying to hold back his anger, trying to control himself and play with Justin gently. Like he was capable of breaking him. As cute as it was though, Justin’s lips fell down in disapproval. That wasn’t a question he wanted to answer, and he didn’t have an excuse lined up yet. Giriko smelled that moment of weakness, found the chip in Justin’s calm that he could shatter the entire display with. 

Justin’s mouth grew bitter with the beginnings of distaste as Giriko started to approach him. It was clear that Giriko felt as if he was more than deserving of an explanation here. He wanted the scythe to justify what he was doing out here. He felt warranted asking the annoying, overprotective question. Justin’s nose wrinkled up and he stood up from his lean against the coffin, expecting some kind of fight here. Instead Giriko stopped dead in his tracks halfway there, he looked shocked and confused. Justin found himself mirror the expression. What had happened? What did he notice? 

“Why the fuck are you wearing my clothes?” Ah. He had forgotten about that. Justin’s lip wavered for a second, he was desperate to bite down on it in a worried frustration, but knew that’d only make everything look worse. This was crumbling around him fast. He didn’t have any excuses ready, especially not ones that all made sense together. There wasn’t going to be any way for him to ease Giriko’s suspicion, his only hope here was going to be trying to convince the enchanter to drop it. Which was pretty much an impossible endeavor with someone as stubborn and nosy as Giriko. 

With that Justin could feel himself start to bristle. He didn’t have time for this. Calming Giriko down could take  _ hours _ . Especially without any kind of answers to give him. Justin didn’t have that kind of time. He was still in the middle of a job. He couldn’t just drop everything to take care of the enchanter, and Giriko had to know that. He  _ had  _ to. So why was he being so stubborn about this? Why was he even down here? For what possible reason could he be looking for Justin at 3 in the morning? Shouldn’t he already be asleep like the old man he was? 

Giriko started to walk towards him again, he was trying to get close enough to be threatening. He wanted to force Justin to answer him, like that was possible. They had been together long enough for him to know that Justin would never answer if he truly didn’t want to. The enchanter was just annoying enough that he wouldn’t stop until he had tried everything. Justin’s temper was already starting to fluctuate, it was daring to rise into something snappy and impatient but he still managing to bite it down. At least until he noticed Giriko trip weirdly and then stand back up with a weird limp. After that there was no chance of stopping his red hot spike of anger.

“What are  _ you  _ doing? Your leg is still hurt Giriko. Don’t make everyone’s life harder and make it worse.” Giriko drew back for a second, his lips pulled into a slightly guilty frown. The tables had turned, but Justin wasn’t at all happy about it. How did Giriko even get down here on his failed Frankenstein experiment of a leg? It had to hurt walking on that thing, and even if it didn’t there was no way Nygus would’ve just let him out of the infirmary. After all, every second Giriko was up and messing around he was loosening his stitches, threatening to pop them all open and go crumpling to the floor. 

He had to have fucking snuck out. Nygus not only had too much pride as a nurse to let Giriko do something this stupid, but there was also no way she’d be interested in stitching Giriko back up. Justin wasn’t too interested either. He was so uninterested in fact that he was going to rip the bastard’s leg back open himself and completely cripple him for making all of this so much harder than it needed to be. It seemed like that was going to be the only way he could be sure Giriko wouldn’t move and would stay still healing like he was supposed to anyway.

Giriko was right in front of him now, he had made it all the way up to where Justin was at some point and seemed to have gotten his anger back as well. The glare between them was suffocating. The tension in the air was so high that if it weren’t for the fact that they were so used to it, it’d probably make them desperate to draw blood. There was a chance they still would, especially once Giriko grabbed his face between bruising fingers and forced him to keep eye contact for the enchanter’s next words.

“Little scythe… what the hell are you doing out like this?” Justin wanted to kick Giriko’s bad leg out from under him, to remind him that what he had been doing wasn’t what was important here. He couldn’t bring himself to do it though, both because he didn’t want to send the enchanter tumbling to the ground and possibly knock him out on the side of his coffin, but also because he was too busy being shocked. Giriko didn’t sound as angry as expected. He still was, unquestionably, but there was an undeniable air of concern under it all. It made Justin freeze for a second, there was a brief moment that he felt the slightest bit guilty, but it quickly passed. He didn’t even understand what Giriko could possibly be upset or worried about here in the first place.

“What do you think I was doing?” The words were harsh and accusatory, suggesting that the enchanter was thinking something so far worse than the reality that he should be ashamed. Of course Giriko wasn’t though, he wasn’t going to be thrown off that easily. He already knew that there was a good chance that what Justin was doing was  _ worse  _ than whatever he was thinking, and probably he was right about that. Still, Justin smacked Giriko’s hand off his face and moved to push Giriko back away from him. Giriko caught his wrist in a bruising grip before he could even make contact. 

“I don’t fucking know brat, that’s why I’m asking.” There was a moment, a second that Justin felt his temper try to explode, but then it didn’t. His head clunked to the side and he rolled it over his shoulders tiredly, overdramatically. A dud. Falling flat. An exhaustion with this situation that it almost made it seem like he was going to relent. Giriko was tense at first, but then started to relax. The second the tension of the situation faded Justin let his eyes flick up. He didn’t move his head from where it was hanging off his shoulders, he didn’t shift his body at all, he just stared straight up at Giriko. 

Justin didn’t have to see himself to know he looked more than just disturbing right now. He could tell from the way Giriko jumped and dropped his wrist. There was a general feeling in the air that screamed that there was something less than sane bubbling under Justin’s skin. Which was only right. This had worn a hole all the way through his patience. They were going in fucking circles now and he was sick of it. He  _ still  _ had shit to be doing right now. He had been playing nice hoping that he could get Giriko to crawl back to bed the easy way, he was done with that now. 

Giriko realized that. The look on Justin’s face was heavy with the threat of what he’d do if the enchanter didn’t leave him alone. Giriko could read it loud and clear, and for a brief second it really did seem like he was going to drop all of this. That he was going to see the danger here, spit angrily to the side and retreat like the coward he was. But he didn’t. Of course he didn’t. They wouldn’t be together if Giriko was actually scared of him. They wouldn’t be in love if Giriko was scared of him. 

Giriko picked him up and threw him down on top of the coffin so hard that Justin could feel Gabriel’s body rock inside, daring to tip the whole bike over. The sharp reminder of his still alive, still able to wake up victim, combined with sudden aggression made Justin’s lips peel back into a horrific smile. He wanted Gabriel to wake up. He wanted to hear the man scream as he figured out where he was. He wanted all his plans  _ ruined  _ so he could see Giriko’s look of absolute horror when he realized just what Justin had been doing. When he realized what they were on top of right now.

Gabriel didn’t. 

Giriko came down on top of him, throwing his hands onto the other edge of the coffin and caging Justin under him. Locking the scythe into this conversation, making sure there was nothing he could do until Giriko was done with him. Justin’s mouth turned into something wicked, something malicious. It was obvious that Giriko didn’t know what he was leaning against, he had no idea of what was inside the object he had decided he wanted Justin on top of. He wasn’t even considering the possibility of there being a body anywhere in this equation. Justin almost felt bad for him. Almost.

“What did you do?” Giriko hissed the words, his voice almost pained. Like he was somehow being hurt by not knowing what was going on. Justin laughed piteously and reached up to hold Giriko’s face, amazed by the sheer idiocy on display here. The enchanter’s entire body jerked in shock, but he didn’t pull away. He let Justin rub his thumb over his cheek, he let the scythe pet at him, and as angry as he looked, he still seemed to be enjoying the soft touch. Justin’s lips quirked up even higher, turning his smile from something fairly subdued into a sharp psychotic V shape. 

“You’ll find out soon enough.” He said it like a confession. As if he was telling Giriko how much he loved him. He supposed he was in a way. He was promising Giriko an answer here, even after being handled so roughly. He was promising to give Giriko something he didn’t deserve because he loved him. The words were a mark of his affection, of how much Giriko meant to him. Giriko wasn’t taking it that way. 

He looked  _ horrified _ .

Justin could feel the blood drain out of Giriko’s face, leaving his cheeks pale and cold under the scythe’s fingers. Justin laughed again, soft and bell like, thoroughly enjoying the enchanter’s cute reaction. He didn’t really understand what Giriko was so scared of, or what he had realized here, but he didn’t care all that much either. It was obvious that Giriko still hadn’t figured out what exactly was happening, and that’s really all that mattered. Well, to him anyway. 

The enchanter was sweating. He looked desperate. He was acting as if there was a crushing, impending danger in the air. Justin couldn’t feel it at all, but maybe that was because he was the danger here. The  _ perceived  _ danger anyway. It wasn’t like Giriko was ever actually at risk when he was around. Giriko knew that, Justin knew he knew that. So really what was Giriko even scared of? What would happen to Gabriel? That didn’t make any sense at all. Justin truly didn’t understand Giriko’s worry, fear or desperation here, and he knew he wasn’t going to just suddenly start to. So instead of wasting his time trying to figure out what was happening, he pulled Giriko down into a kiss in the hopes to distract him.

The way Giriko swallowed thickly before meeting the kiss back showed that he was still trying to process everything. Justin could only roll his eyes under their lids and grab onto the arms still caging him. Giriko huffed and knocked his hands away, instead moving them up around his shoulders. Justin didn’t really get the adjustment, but he didn’t argue. He stretched his arms far behind the enchanter’s head, letting himself bend his tired back into a tight bow as Giriko’s hands settled on his waist. It was getting hard to breathe in the small space they had created within each other, the air was starting to smell like sweet intoxicating nitrous. Justin could feel his head start to get fuzzy, his ears buzz with the overwhelmingly warm high that always made him want to laugh out his psychotic excitement. He wrapped his arms protectively around Giriko’s neck.

When Giriko’s grip tightened and he pulled Justin right up against himself, the scythe assumed it was still just a fear thing. He read it as begging, as a final resort to try and get him to answer. He hummed in an encouraging praise and deepened their kiss again. His salvia was starting to get thick and sticky with the flavor of nauseatingly sweet honey. The sugared poison of his own deranged affection. He loved Giriko like this, he loved feeling the enchanter relent and give him what he wanted. Undoubtedly Giriko knew that. He knew that and knew he was making Justin’s brain melt with this overly affectionate kiss. He knew he was making Justin forget everything outside of their beating hearts and combining souls. 

He knew he could catch Justin off guard like this. 

Gasping Justin broke their kiss with a betrayed shock as he felt himself being lifted up. His hands scrambled to get untangled from behind Giriko’s neck so he could push away or grab onto the enchanter’s arms or do anything that’d stop this from happening. He wasn’t fast enough. Giriko hoisted him up and over his shoulder so quickly that there was nothing he could do but whine. Which was undeniably on purpose. Giriko had done this on purpose. He was making sure Justin couldn’t argue or fight back. And being upside down like this Justin was inclined to agree he couldn’t. He was choking on all the fabric of Giriko’s too big shirt. It was all falling into his face, blocking his vision, coming off and trapping his arms in such a way that it was impossible to even just cover himself up again. Any kind of meaningful, worthwhile struggling was a grand fantasy here. 

“Giriko!” Justin had intended to make his voice sound teary and weak, he wanted to make Giriko feel bad, or worry that he was hurting him. He was far too angry to pull it off, his voice came out like sharp stabbing venom. The name burnt at his tongue and made his skin start to boil with hot toxic rage. Giriko only laughed, taking pleasure in how angry he had managed to make Justin. Alright. They were done playing nice here. He was going to end this game right here, right now.

Justin went to grab onto Giriko’s good leg with a vengeance, aiming to pull it out from under the enchanter and send them both crashing to the muddy ground. He barely managed to ghost his fingers around the other’s knee before he was thrown up into the air just enough that when his stomach came crashing back down onto Giriko’s shoulder the wind was knocked out of him. The horrible gasping and coughing noises he made were heavy with confusion and surprise, they screamed that he was losing. They didn’t slow Giriko down even a little bit. 

Which was only expected. His intention there had clearly been to turn Justin into a pained mess that wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop whatever was about to happen. He had thought about this. Had been expecting Justin to try that. This was clearly planned out, he had been entirely trapped here. Lured into a cage with a kiss. There wasn’t any escape. Not until he was put down at least. What a fucking bastard Giriko could be. 

As he heard the academy side gates open with an annoying loud squeak he grit his teeth. It was like the nail in the coffin here. He  _ was  _ being taken away. There wasn’t any getting out of it anymore. He was being forced to leave his coffin unattended with a living body still inside. There really wasn’t a worse case scenario here. It’d take a real moron to tamper with something belonging to a Death Scythe, but there were plenty of students who’d see it and let their curiosity get the best of them. This was a fenced off area, but it wouldn’t be the first time some idiot students had climbed the fence to see what was up.

That had been when there was nothing back there. So, with a screaming shaking coffin there was absolutely no way there wouldn’t be some dumbass that’d open the thing like pandora’s box and cause some sort of chaos. Chaos was going to be inevitable here. Even if everyone had the common sense not to touch it, there’d still be rumors and hushed conspiracies of what it was. The DWMA did not need any more of those. Especially not anymore around Justin, there were enough people suspicious of him already. 

Giriko was putting both of them at risk here. Hell, he was putting the entire academy at risk here. Justin was going to fucking kill him. To think he had been doing this for him. What an ungrateful piece of shit. Couldn’t just sit still and wait for one goddamn-

Giriko took a step upward and Justin’s entire body rocked in such a way that he almost threw up. It was such a weird movement and it made him so unbelievably sick that he made a horribly pained groan when Giriko did it again. Fuck, he was climbing stairs wasn’t he? As there were a few more steps that jostled Justin horribly he realized that most certainly was what was happening. Part of him was still worried about where they were going, worried about how far Giriko was taking him. After all, how was he going to get back? How long would all of this be? They were important questions, important things to be thinking about. But louder than all of that was his desire to not vomit or pass out from being carried like this.

“Giriko carry me properly, I’m-” His voice cut off at the end with an awful gag. This was horrible. It was horrible and Giriko wasn’t making any move to rectify the situation and hold him normally. Justin groaned in upset and felt Giriko’s hand tighten protectively over his back- making sure there was no way he could slip free and accidently send himself rolling down the stairs. There was something unbelievably frustrating about that. Something infuriating about the fact that Giriko cared enough to hold him tighter, but not enough to make sure he didn’t throw up everywhere. Curling up awkwardly Justin grabbed onto the other’s midsection and buried his face into Giriko’s back. It felt weird to be holding Giriko upside down like this, but it held him somewhat still for the remainder of the awful trek up the stairwell.

Justin had heard students complain about there being far too many stairs before, and while he agreed there were indeed a lot he never really saw a point in complaining. Now he got it. By the time they got to wherever they were going Justin was so dizzy and sick that when Giriko put him down he stumbled side to side, swaying horribly on his feet as he tried to right himself. Giriko didn’t give him the chance. He pushed Justin over so suddenly that the scythe didn’t even have the time to yell before he hit the floor. Justin braced himself for the wave of pain to hit him, but it never did.

It took him far, far longer than he’d ever admit to figure out he wasn’t on the floor at all. He was on a bed. They were in a room with a bed. The confusion in his mind dripped out with a weird babble, an attempted question. He didn’t get to figure out what he was going to ask before Giriko leaned over him. The way that the covers had puffed up all around him with his less than graceful fall blocked out his peripheral vision entirely, giving him nothing to look at other than Giriko. Giriko who was making sure he couldn’t go anywhere. Giriko who looked like he was going to fucking kill him. 

Justin tried the meet the glare back with something just as hateful, but he was finding it impossible. He was still feeling far too sick from being held upside down for so long to summon up a look that wasn’t just confused. He was honestly kind of busy trying to stomach the feeling of all the blood that rushed up to his head rushing back down to where it belonged to do  _ anything _ . Giriko seemed to realize his predicament fairly quickly. The tired, mocking laugh that came out of the enchanter made Justin throw his arm up, sick and limp to smack the other in the face. He might be too out of it to look angry, but he still most certainly was. 

He managed to make contact, but since there was little to no force behind it, it was just kind of a weird firm pat. Giriko got the message though, he knew Justin had done it out of rage. However the insult of the slap didn’t travel. Giriko smile peeled back into something amused and predatory, clearly happy with the turn of events that had left Justin so pliant. Finally managing a somewhat threatening glare Justin opened his mouth to say something, to get Giriko off of him. Giriko killed the words before they even made it out of his throat.

Justin wasn’t even sure what Giriko was doing, trailing a hand up his stomach with a gentleness that felt wrong for this situation. He actually bent away, trying to get Giriko to stop. He didn’t, and instead grabbed at something over Justin’s chest and pulled it down. It took Justin a good while to figure out it was his shirt, which apparently had still been hiked up from his less than desirable transport up here. He couldn’t decide if he was embarrassed by that or not, after all it was Giriko’s fault for carrying him up here so roughly. What he  _ was  _ embarrassed by was Giriko hooking his finger around the waistband of his jeans and pulling it outwards to show how loose it was. 

“These are too big for you baby scythe.” There was a weird emphasis on the nickname. Justin’s face felt like it was on fire and he kicked one of his legs out in another attempt to trip Giriko. Once again the enchanter managed to avoid having his weak leg exploited, he pulled back ever so slightly and shifted to the side but other than that gave no acknowledgement to Justin’s attack. He wanted a response. He was too focused on this, too curious as to why Justin had stolen them. Justin didn’t get it. 

It was no secret that he’d never voluntarily wear Giriko’s far too exposing fashion. So undoubtedly that was the reason the enchanter was picking this as the primary issue here.  _ Still though _ . What on earth could he be expecting to hear that’d make him this set on forcing an answer out of Justin? What was he worried about? He couldn’t seriously be humoring the idea of the scythe being unfaithful, that would just be stupid. Giriko  _ knew  _ how much Justin loved him, there was no way he didn’t. So if that’s really what he was worried about Justin could only roll his eyes. 

“They fit well enough.” With that he smacked Giriko’s hand away and managed to finally sit himself up. They were in one of the infirmary rooms. He supposed that made sense. This is probably where they had brought Giriko once they had finished stitching up all the other little cuts in his leg. His leg. Justin’s eyes narrowed and he looked back at Giriko with a horribly angry expression. The sneaky bastard almost managed to make him forget the dumbassery he was pulling here. He had just carried Justin up  _ how  _ many stairs on his beaten up leg? What the hell was wrong with him? How was he even still standing?

“Giri… what are you doing up right now?” Justin wasn’t like Giriko, he wasn’t going to make weird comments that had a silent question underneath and just hope that he’d get the message across and receive an answer. He was going to demand an answer up front. Grabbing onto the other Justin yanked down, forcing Giriko to stumble and fall onto the bed with him. Finally catching the man off guard Justin grinned and moved to the side so Giriko could face plant into the mattress with a groan. It took the enchanter a few moments to start pulling himself up, long enough for Justin’s mood to darken again. Giriko was tired, his limbs were shaking as he pushed himself off the bed. What was he doing? Why was he up right now? Giriko looked at him funny as he rolled over to sit up, it made Justin’s stomach feel weird. It made him feel far smaller than it had any right to.

“Why do think I was up?” Giriko said it with a smug grin, a sharp laugh. Justin didn’t have time to think about his answer. Giriko was starting to move before he even finished speaking. Justin couldn’t figure out what was happening fast enough, Giriko grabbed either end of the covers and scooped him up in them like a little basket. The scythe could only sputter in confusion as he was pulled up into the other’s lap and forced to accommodate himself in the increasingly small amount of space Giriko was rounding him up into. When they finally settled Justin was wrapped so tight against Giriko in the little blanket cocoon the other had made that he couldn’t even move. His glare was truly something awful but Giriko only smiled down at him in weird piteous way.

“I was looking for you brat. I thought you were going to come back to me.” Justin tried really hard to stay angry after that, his glare faltered and came back a few times before he finally sighed and relented. The way he started to wiggle made Giriko’s expression drop into something so dejected that Justin almost made a pained noise in return. He almost stopped moving completely and resigned himself into sitting still for the other, he was that desperate to get Giriko to stop making that face. Still he managed to get his arms out from their blanket prison and wrapped them tight around Giriko’s neck to pull the enchanter down into a kiss. 

“I was. I’ll always come back to you. I just had something I needed to do first.” Giriko still looked strained, displeased with that. It obviously wasn’t the answer he wanted, but he seemed to come to an acceptance with it. He met their lips again, biting at Justin in what was most certainly anger but there was also an undeniable possessiveness under it all. Justin smiled, his chest buzzing in pleasure. He wasn’t one to be very violent with his affection but if Giriko was interested in marking territory like this… 

Pulling back Justin licked his lips and smiled sweetly. It was the kind of smile that had a bad kind of promise behind it. Giriko started to pull back ever so slightly, he was trying to get himself into a position where he’d have the upper hand to stop Justin from doing whatever he was thinking. Justin didn’t give him the chance. He caught Giriko’s face between gentle fingers and kissed the bridge of his nose with the softness of feathers. Giriko didn’t relax at all, he knew Justin far too well, he knew there was still another shoe that had to drop. 

He trailed his lips over the sensitive skin of Giriko’s eye, smiling at how the older man shivered in a mixture of fear and excitement. Right as he made it to the top of Giriko’s cheek he kissed the other again, warm and soft, his hands threaded into Giriko’s hair to hold them as close as possible. Giriko started to relax, but immediately tensed back up as he felt Justin’s teeth open against the soft flesh of his face.

Justin bit down on the apple of Giriko’s cheek hard enough to draw blood. The hot shout that came tearing out of the enchanter’s throat pierced into his ear so loudly he let go and leaned back as far as he could, his eyes pinched closed with the shock of it. When he finally managed to right himself and peek his eyes open he saw Giriko smiling at him with sharp angry teeth. Far sharper than his own, able to cause far more damage. He smiled again, looking at the other’s bloodthirsty expression and appreciating how perfect it looked with the new oval shaped bruise darkening under his eye.

“You pleased with yourself you fucking little shit?” Humming in affirmation Justin ducked under the covers when Giriko went to grab at his face. It was a horribly tight fit in the mess of blankets but he managed to wiggle himself down and throw all the loosening covers over Giriko’s head and free himself out the bottom. The rush of fresh air that came over him as he finally got all the way out was amazing and it only felt better when he noticed that Giriko was the one suffocating in all the fluff now. 

It was cute watching the other sputter as he tried to find his way up to the top. Cute enough that Justin grabbed onto his ankles and pulled Giriko firmly back under when he finally started to find his way out. He laughed watching Giriko swear and try to reclaim some kind of power here. Giriko was adorable, he was… Justin’s heart froze as he felt something weirdly wet soak into his hand.

“You… you're such a fucking brat.” Giriko’s tone was annoyed, but still generally light hearted. Justin wasn’t paying attention. He let go of Giriko’s wounded leg and stared at his bloodied hand with a horrible throat crushing silence. The room started to feel sticky and weird, Justin mouth felt as if it had been coated in the scent of blood and heavy burning iodine. His eyes were burning ever so slightly. There was an anger that kept sparking in his soul, one that wanted him to get mad so he could ignore this crushing pain inside of him, but it couldn’t catch anything and start to burn. He just felt cold and empty. 

“Justin.” He didn’t respond, didn’t move. His chest felt weird. The horrible unrelenting hatred and rage driving him forward had just tripped all over itself and left him feeling… blank. Horribly blank. Like his innards were being crushed and dissolved into nothing. Giriko pulled him down again. He didn’t fight it this time, he let Giriko wrap them up in the blankets and sat perfectly still for him. His hand felt like it was burning, he could feel every little bit of blood clinging to his skin. He didn’t notice it until now but Giriko smelled different than he usually did. He smelled softer, cleaner, like hospital soap and healing skin. He smelled  _ vulnerable _ . It made Justin feel weirdly sick.

“It’s just a cut, I’m not gonna die.” Giriko said it as a reassurance, but it made Justin’s heart squeeze in a way that made him feel like he was having a heart attack. He hadn’t even considered Giriko dying. Giriko couldn’t die he was… he was so old and people that old couldn’t just die, could they? Justin’s could feel his breaths flutter in a silent subdued panic. Giriko had been around forever, so surely he was going to keep being around forever… he had to. At least for the remainder of Justin’s life he had to. Life wouldn’t be so cruel as to take Giriko away now, It couldn’t be. That’d just be a sick joke… 

“I’m not worried about that.” His voice came out hoarse, his hands moved shakily up to grab desperately onto the front of Giriko’s shirt and anchor them together. He felt nauseous realizing that he was probably getting Giriko’s blood all over them and leaving weird handprints under the covers doing this. Giriko wasn’t having the same problem with it all. He hummed and rubbed a hand down Justin’s back soothingly, obviously not buying the lie but also not calling it out and pushing further. 

“What’s the problem then?” Justin could feel Giriko’s lips move against his hair, a breath away from kissing the top of his head. He could tell Giriko was worried about him, like he was the one to be worried about here. Giriko could’ve died yesterday, Gabriel could’ve killed him. Gabriel could’ve  _ killed  _ Giriko. Justin’s rage started to flicker to life again, only this time far hotter and brighter than it had been before. 

“That you have old man feet.” Giriko snorted, obviously getting that Justin’s insult was hollow and said just for the sake of skipping over the actual problem. He seemed to have a whole humor around this situation that Justin didn’t get at all. He was fuming, glaring daggers into Giriko’s chest and getting himself into a huffy mess just thinking about how angry this all made him. Giriko chuckled again and moved him up to kiss his face gently. Justin’s heart did a weird pull in response, trying to stay angry while but also trying to be happy about the kiss. He moved to wiggle away again but Giriko held him fast this time, making sure he couldn’t slip down or under or any other direction. 

“Just sleep little scythe, you’ll feel better once you go the fuck to sleep.” Giriko’s voice sounded exhausted there, like the idea of Justin actually going to bed and being still was so relaxing that it was making him realize how tired he was. Justin wiggled stubbornly one final time before realizing it was a lost cause and let himself fall limp. He didn’t want to sleep, he still had things to be doing, but… with Giriko warm and strong around him like this… he was starting to feel his eyelids get unfairly heavy. His mouth knitted up into something annoyed as his body started to relax against his will. He wasn’t tired yet, but his body most certainly was, it was shutting down around him, desperate to take a break after a weird blur of what at this point was almost 3 days of constant motion. 

Making an annoyed noise Justin felt Giriko’s lips quirk into a smile against his forehead. Fucking bastard knew Justin was losing here. He knew it and was more than excited to see the scythe finally knock out cold so he could sleep as well. Because for whatever reason he couldn’t just sleep himself. Justin absently wondered if that was why Giriko had been waiting for him to get back this entire time. That’d explain why he was up at such a weird hour. That’d be… not as pathetic as Justin wanted it to be. His heart stung a bit thinking about that. 

Pulling Giriko lazily closer to him he ignored how the other laughed before obliging and gathering Justin up entirely into his arms. Justin hummed, his mind going warm and blank as he wrapped his arms lazily around Giriko’s shoulders and let himself get lulled completely and entirely asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll go into this later but for clarification sake right now Giriko wasn't worried about Justin being unfaithful he was worried about him getting hurt. Also no I didn't forget about Gabriel, yes next chapter will be bloody and yes the rest of this will be weirdly emotional too bc I have no self control.


	4. Preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Discretion is advised, please take note of the following warnings:
> 
> Torture, Broken bones, Unsanitary (Urine), Puncture wounds, Forced nudity, Corrosion injuries, Discussion of alkalosis (acid injury), Genital trauma
> 
> This was written for entertainment purposes, any medical/chemical information discussed is not to be taken as fact or used as an educational guideline. 
> 
> This chapter isn't necessary to understand the plot, so feel free to come back next update and skip over this one.

The light that hung above Justin flickered dramatically enough that if he wasn’t so used it he’d actually be worried that it short circuited and finally died. He was used to it though and continued to pull what he needed out from the old weathered cabinets that had been built centuries before his birth, that had been used by those who had held this position before him. The light came back on and Gabriel’s heavy breathing sped up ever so slightly. The moth that had fallen in confusion with the sudden darkness flew past his eyes back towards the intoxicating light. 

There was another dramatic flicker and an odd buzzing noise, Justin didn’t need to look back to know the moth had flown too close, it had become far too desperate to not lose the light again and gave it's life to make sure it's last moments were within the hot warmth it knew as safety from the predators that hid in the dark. The lesson of Icarus. The moth’s greed was it's undoing, it’s death was inevitable. Justin couldn’t even spare a momentary pity for it’s foolishness, at it’s impatience and fear. If it couldn’t be grateful for the light and protection it was given, and see its absence as a reminder of what a blessing it had, it deserved it's electric end. 

Justin let the heavy bloodstained scissors he had retrieved slip through the rope he was holding with a satisfying slice noise, flipping the new segment around to quickly measure and cut three more in equal lengths. Gabriel had been blathering quite a bit when they had started all of this, demanding answers and screaming threats. It had been ear scraping and Justin had actually been tempted to lock everything up so he could go back home to get his headphones before continuing here. Luckily Gabriel seemed to have realized that nothing he could say was going to entice a reaction out of Justin, and stopped after his voice started to go hoarse and pained. 

It had been nothing short of a miracle that his coffin had been left undisturbed all night and he had been able to slip out from under Giriko’s sleep heavy body without any trouble. Last night’s errors surprisingly had no real effect on this mission, sans the pungent smell of urine that had flooded the academy’s ‘prayer room’ the second Justin had undone the latches and let fresh air flush into the coffin. It wasn’t a smell Justin was all that surprised or disgusted by, but from the way Gabriel had coughed, wheezed and threw up the second the lid was lifted, he was disgusted enough for the both of them. 

Gabriel’s first movement, after heaving up the entirety of his stomach onto his lap, was to fly up and desperately try to knock the shadowy figure above him out cold. It didn’t work out for him, Justin hadn’t been laying down in a cramped coffin all night completely unable to move and therefore wasn’t dizzy and didn’t pathetically crumple upon sitting up, which Gabriel did. Justin only rolled his eyes and grabbed Gabriel’s arms and bent them back to bind them together. The meister hadn’t been able to manage any kind of response other than a pained groan and spitting up some more bile onto the dilapidated floors. That’s probably what he was still doing over there, but Justin wasn’t paying attention to that mess right now. He was thinking about something…

“You know…” Justin dragged out the ‘know’ part as long as he could, savoring the idea of how Gabriel’s shoulders were winding up up like a crank, getting tighter and tighter with every second as he waited for Justin to get to his point. Justin hummed as his words finally died off into nothingness. He made no move to finish his thought and ease the heavy tension in the room, no move to help the man behind him figure out what was going on or where this was going. He didn’t add anything but confusion and even more fear to the air with the out of place words he broke their horrific silence with. 

Turning just enough to see Gabriel over his shoulder Justin let his eyes close sweetly, an expression of innocence and care on his face. There was no need to rush this, he had already let everyone know he was undertaking Giriko’s failed mission, he had permission to rectify this error. He had permission to use whatever means he found necessary to take out this threat to the academy. He had so many ideas.

Leaning against the edge of the coffin Justin tilted his head and let his kind little smile stretch far past friendly, twisting it into a sharp V that showed the smallest hint of his teeth, of his intentions. Gabriel’s chest was moving like a jackhammer, this was the first time since last night they were face to face. It was clear realization was coming over the meister, he was starting to remember what had happened, who was over him. The eye contact they were making gave Justin a tiny taste of Gabriel’s horror and self disgust, he hummed in pleasure and finally finished his thought from earlier.

“I’ve always wondered, how long does it take a man submerged in acid to die? How much would he have to melt first? Surely it wouldn’t be instant if you kept his head above the water level.” Justin’s smile had entirely dropped and his blue eyes reflected in a way that showed how detached he was from Gabriel right now. It wasn’t a person in front of him, it was an opportunity. He wasn’t saying the words to be mean, to get any kind of sadistic pleasure out of it, he honestly wanted to know. Gabriel seemed to realize that. He seemed to realize that none of this was just talk, that Justin wasn’t playing around. His teeth grit together and he glared up at Justin with an expression that was undoubtedly supposed to be threatening. 

“I would assume it’d take quite a while, until the acid started to get into the veins and arteries and got pumped up into the brain. What do you think it feels like? To have your brain burn? That’s called alkalosis you know?” Justin wasn’t really paying all that much attention to Gabriel anymore, his mind was rifling through the information he had on the subject, trying to find an answer to his own question despite already knowing he didn’t have one. His eyebrows knotted up and he cracked his knuckles one by one, pressing his thumb across the top of each of his fingers until there was a satisfying pop. 

“The Ph buffers in the body aren’t nearly enough to stop something like hydrochloric acid, but that’d turn a person to useless sludge, so maybe it would be best to do with a base, to make soap.” Gabriel’s entire body rocked forward, it was clear he was trying to get up again and fight, to desperately try and stop whatever was going to happen. Justin held him down firmly by the neck, staring down and tightening his grip with all the distaste of being interrupted. How ignorant would one have to be to act so disrespectful while at an executioner’s mercy? Justin’s grip loosened in disgust and he pushed Gabriel back into the coffin so he could wheel the trailer it was on towards one of his tables. 

“Or maybe we could start with an acid and then add a base so the solution would become salt and water and then we could see if it's possible for a human to survive by means of hydrolysis.” There wasn’t as much commitment behind Justin’s words this time, far less curiosity than had been there before. Justin already knew he wasn’t going to go through with answering any of those questions. After all, he needed the man to stay in more or less one piece. He was just curious and wanted to let the question touch the air. Justin knew himself well enough to know that was really the only way he could get it off his mind and move onto the next thing without it nagging at him. Smiling jaggedly he looked down at Gabriel with a bit of pity.

“There's a lot to think about there, but I’ll leave that kind of stuff for Stein. I’m not one for experimentation.” Parking the little trailer Justin hit his foot against the little brake lock so it’d stay still while he got Gabriel out of the coffin. It was going to be its own fair share of hard, Gabriel was quite a bit bigger than him and lifting him up onto the table wasn’t going to be easy. There wasn’t any doubt that he was going to be able to do it though. Just as Stein had the practice in experimentation that Justin wouldn’t dare to copy, Justin had more than enough experience in inspiring repentance to manage something as simple as this. 

“Then what are you one for?” Blinking in shock Justin peered down at Gabriel with wide eyes, completely taken aback by the odd question that he was certain he had never heard before. He went quiet for a second as he undid the straps he had put in place way back in the bar to keep Gabriel’s from being able to stand up. He didn’t know how to answer that. Execution was the answer that he probably should be giving, after all he was a guillotine, that was kind of the entire reason for his existence. Somehow that sounded wrong though.

“Preparation. My focus has always been on preparation.” Finishing the last strap he grabbed one of the pieces of rope he had threaded through the loop of Giriko’s too big jeans and held it between his teeth as he tied the other end around one of Gabriel’s knees. The meister grunted and tried to kick his other leg up to hit the side of Justin’s head, but the scythe quickly smacked the limb away and moved so he was behind Gabriel’s head, out of the reach of any of the man’s appendages. He secured the rope with a practiced ease and threw the rest of it over the table before moving to do the same with the next leg. 

“Preparation for what?” Justin wasn’t sure if Gabriel was trying to lower his guard with these questions, distract himself from what was coming, or was genuinely curious. Regardless of whatever it was though, Justin didn’t really care. He bit the inside of his cheek and rolled that idea around in his head as he walked over to the side of the table not bordered by the coffin and yanked the rope attached to Gabriel’s closer knee. The shout was strangled and only got worse as he pulled it harder and harder, dragging the man’s body up onto the table without any need to lift and put himself in danger.

Once the leg he was yanking on got entirely onto the table, along with most of Gabriel’s hips and a good portion of his back, Justin tied the rope off on a metal tether. Gabriel’s breathing was so heavy and strained that one would assume something much worse than just having a knee yanked on had happened. He certainly had a flair for the dramatics over there. Justin moved around again to push Gabriel into an odd contorted position that exposed his bound arms. The groan he got in response made Justin roll his eyes. 

“Preparation for… preparation for someone else. Gifts. I make gifts. Offerings if you’d prefer to call them that.” Pulling another rope free from his belt loop he pushed the handcuffs he had used while getting everything ready up and threaded the rope gently between Gabriel’s wrists to tie off his right arm. It went as easily as it had for his legs and Justin threw the rope over the table again, smiling fondly at how Gabriel flinched with the knowledge of what was coming next. 

“You a fucking satanist? Sorry to ruin your trip here but I’m not a virgin, you're gonna have to get someone else.” For a second Justin was confused how someone could mistake him for a satanist, but quickly remembered he was still in Giriko’s clothes and shook his head with a sigh. He walked around again to pull the rest of Gabriel’s body up onto the table. There was an awful popping noise this time, accompanied by a horrid scream. Justin supposed one great thing about being scrawny was that he never had to worry about his own body weight dislocating his shoulder. Tying off the rope again he moved to kick up the brake of his trailer and push his coffin off into a random corner where it wouldn’t get in the way. 

“You couldn’t be further off, I’m Lord Death’s personal executioner, Justin Law.” Gabriel’s eyes were wet and swimming with pain, it was clear he was having a hard time processing what Justin had said. Justin didn’t try to clear it up or move along with what he was doing, he wanted to see the reaction he was going to get with that. He wanted to see what Gabriel would say.

“Why the fuck would he bother sending his executioner after me? Why would he even bother having an executioner if it only did dumb shit like this? Are you just for decoration?” An extremely forced smile peeled up Justin’s face and he hummed in a way that sounded light hearted, but had an undeniable warning behind it. He wasn’t so unprofessional as to be provoked by a mere kishin egg, but he figured he would be  _ kind  _ enough to give Gabriel an indication of what would happen if he continued down this path. 

“Oh don’t misunderstand, you are not here under his orders. I can assure you that your existence has never burdened his mind. You’re here because you’ve done something that incited my attention specifically, not the attention of Lord Death.” The smug smile Gabriel had taken on with his foolish comment dropped completely with that, the expression that took its place was confused and substantially more concerned. Justin’s smile relaxed slightly and he moved to remove the cuffs around Gabriel’s wrists so he could tie his other arm back. 

“What? Who the fuck even are you? How can you have a vendetta against me if we’ve never fucking met?” Panic. Gabriel was panicking now that he was realizing how this was all premeditated and his chance of survival was pretty much zero. Justin could only huff in disgust as he tied back the man’s other arm and did the same to his one remaining limb. Gabriel’s knee jerked as Justin pulled the rope down to secure it to the table and leave him defenseless. He sure was being a coward all of a sudden. What happened to all that courage? Was he having performance anxiety over there? How pathetic. 

“If you think hard enough I’m sure you’ll put it together.” Wiping off his hands on Giriko’s work pants he stepped back to make sure everything was in order. Gabriel was immobilized, so on that front everything was fine… but he was still covered in piss and vomit, which made him something Justin wasn’t really interested in giving to Giriko. Clicking his tongue he moved back towards the cabinets. Gabriel struggled, shouting for his attention and trying to stop him from doing anything else here.

“Fucking tell me! Are you just making up shit!? Looking for an excuse to spill blood!?” Justin sighed and lamented the fact that he had to come down here right away. He really wished he had his headphones here, he didn’t want to deal with Gabriel’s screams and disgustingly rough voice. Grabbing the pair of scissors he used to cut the rope Justin snipped them a few times experimentally before deciding that they were his best bet here. 

“Don’t accuse me of such things, I’m a servant of god, I would never take an innocent life nor would I allow myself to find personal pleasure in killing.” Turning back towards Gabriel Justin took a step forward and felt the moth crush under his shoe. Destroying the evidence that it had brought it's own death upon itself and making it seem like Justin was the one that killed it. Gabriel’s entire body tensed up against the ropes as he tried to hide himself away from the oversized fabric scissors that had never actually been used for any kind of sewing. 

“How can a fucking executioner say shit like that?” Justin pulled Gabriel’s shirt up and cut straight across, breaking the sleeves open and letting him cut the rest of it off before throwing the soiled thing off towards where the waste chute was. The confused noise that Gabriel made didn’t phase Justin at all. He moved to cut off the man’s pants before stopping suddenly, his eyebrows knotting up in thought as he answered the question that Gabriel had probably already forgotten asking. 

“I kill those Lord Death has chosen to kill, and only find pleasure in knowing I have served him, not in the action of taking a life.” Justin pulled the scissors away from the man’s belt and reassessed the situation in front of him. Knowing Giriko… someone dirty would be far better than someone naked. He seemed like the type who would freak out about something like that… Putting the scissors into his back pocket Justin sighed at how Gabriel’s entire body sagged in relief. Was he really that concerned about his pants right now? Surely he knew there were bigger things for him to worry about right now. 

Stepping back Justin looked at Gabriel’s bunched up posture with a disappointed expression, how much of a baby was this guy? Nothing was even happening yet, nothing had even been  _ said  _ yet. Was he just getting overwhelmed with assumptions? How on earth had someone so pathetic not been given to the students for collection? How on earth had Giriko lost? If this really was the same man, it was no wonder that Giriko was so angry and embarrassed returning. Maybe all this man’s courage came from his weapon partner, Justin hoped it was that, just for the sake of Giriko’s pride. 

“I’m not even here to kill you Gabriel, I’m simply getting you ready.  _ Preparation _ is what I do, remember?” Gabriel looked over at him in shock, probably mostly in part to his name being used by Justin for the first time since all of this had started last night, but it was also clear that he was shocked to hear he wasn’t about to be brutally murdered. Justin didn’t bother waiting for the man’s shock to pass before he started to untie Gabriel’s shoes and throw them off somewhere. He was getting sick of just standing around, he knew what he had to do and he wasn’t going to let himself be distracted from it any longer. 

“Ready for what?” Ripping Gabriel’s socks off and rolling up his jeans Justin bent the man’s ankle around to test the joint. Moving it back and forth a few times he felt where each tendon was and how they stretched and moved with every rotation. The joint was tight and not very flexible, which made sense for a meister who had to be strong on their feet, but it was going to make this a fair bit harder and a lot more painful. Testing his other ankle Justin found that it was slightly more flexible, probably his dominant foot and the one that twisted when he wanted to make a quick turn, but it was still stiff enough that they were going to need a thinner pick. 

Running his hand back through his hair Justin got up to go searching for what he needed, the original equipment he picked out just wasn’t going to work here. He had given Gabriel more credit than he deserved. He had thought the man was more athletic being as young as he was, but apparently he was just as much of a lay about as most kishin eggs that were born from a syndicate. Throwing the pair of scissors he had brought with him back onto the table he crouched down to open one of the dusty cabinets and pull an ice pick that was hanging off the door. He had been planning on just using a screwdriver, but this would be nicer anyway. If he was careful here he could completely hide the wound and make it seem like nothing had happened. That would probably be for the best here… Giriko was far too sensitive when it came to needing help. 

“Ready for the one you attacked. He needs to get his revenge.” Picking up a small ball hammer Justin looked around for anything else he might’ve needed before returning to the table and placing the tools down between Gabriel’s legs. Gabriel jumped a foot with the sound they made clattering onto the wood. There was a mini struggle as Gabriel tried to break his binds to no avail, and then a moment of eye contact as the meister tried to calm himself down enough to shout whatever was clearly building up inside of him. 

“What!? Who are you even talking about!? I haven’t attacked any-” Justin didn’t let him finish, his rage took over and he swung the hammer he had picked up dead into the center of Gabriel’s stomach. He still had the calm of mind to be careful and try to hit somewhere that would cause no visible damage but would hurt enough to make the man see stars. He was aiming for a spot right next to the kidneys. The strangled noise he got response let him know he had accidently hit them dead on. A mistake, but not a huge one, it wasn’t like the man would be alive long enough for a bruised organ to have any kind of real impact. 

“You have. You almost killed him. You almost killed my partner and I won’t rest until you're begging for a chance to show repentance.” Justin’s voice was quiet, but it was  _ shaking  _ with his rage. He wasn’t going to let Gabriel deny his sins.

“I don’t know who the fuck you’re talking about! You're fucking crazy!” The anger inside building inside of Justin was volatile, he really needed to calm down before he ruined all of this and killed Gabriel himself. Letting out a deep breath Justin put the hammer back down, taking away the option to cave Gabriel’s ear inward and show him how much destruction the skull could withstand. How much  _ he  _ could withstand before dying. 

“Are you good at denial or did he mean so little to you that you’ve already forgotten?” Justin’s voice was warning him not to keep playing this game, to admit his fault before he made things worse. There was nothing Justin hated more than people who denied their sin in the hopes to be absolved from punishment. If you understood and agreed that what you were doing was wrong and then chose to do it anyway, you were disgusting, but even worse was trying to be saved from the repercussions you knew were there from the beginning. 

All of that was expected though, Justin found all of those things disgusting, but he had dealt with that type of sinner before. If Gabriel had truly forgotten about Giriko, had really saw him as so much of a passing thought that he didn’t even bother to remember that he had almost killed him… Justin wasn’t sure if there was any way on earth for him to pay back for that disrespect. 

“You have the wrong person you goddamn psychopath!” Moving up onto the table Justin set his knees in between Gabriel’s legs and leaned over Gabriel so they were making direct eye contact, so Gabriel couldn’t look anywhere but at him. The nervous sweat building up on Gabriel’s face was shining in the low light, dripping down onto the old worn wood that had been dyed a beautiful dark cherry red and fooled people into thinking it was polished when in fact it had just become so saturated with blood that it had changed colors centuries ago. 

“You’re a whip meister, yes?” The silence was far too telling. The lights flickered off again. Justin could hear the laughing of the moon, could feel it’s cryptic smile reflect off his eyes. Gabriel was completely frozen in fear, not moving an inch even though he could easily headbutt Justin off of him with how close they were. 800 years this academy has stood here, 800 years this room has existed. There had been many executioners before Justin, but not in a very long time. Guillotines weren’t common anymore, weren’t useful anymore. Justin’s existence was a rarity, his enrollment even more so. After all, why would Lord Death enroll a child no one could wield? 

Lord Death never answered the faculty that complained to him and asked him to expel Justin for failing to meet the standards expected of a weapon. He was waiting. He wanted this room filled again. He wanted a new executioner. Justin fulfilled that desire without hesitation. The youngest Death Scythe in history, the first guillotine to reach that status without being used in official regulated executions. He was picked special for this room by Lord Death himself. This was where he belonged, what he did, what he was  _ made  _ for. He didn’t doubt anything he did in here for a second, he always knew what he was doing and how to do it to best please the god he served. 

“I would never allow myself to make such a mistake and get the wrong person.” Justin’s voice carried no emotion in it, and he felt nothing beyond an all consuming focus as he stared down into Gabriel’s eyes with all his conviction. He wanted to know if Gabriel would keep up this denial even though he had to know at this point that there was going to be no fooling Justin. They kept an unmoving eye contact for a few more seconds before Gabriel broke it and looked down between them for something, his adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed back something and readjusted himself. The way Gabriel looked back at him made it seem like he was overwhelmed and upset, Justin didn’t bother to wonder what he was having problems with.

“You tryin’ to get revenge for that shitty excuse of a weapon?” Justin didn’t flinch at the insult to Giriko, Gabriel opinions meant literally nothing to him, he might as well of been getting angry about a TV show Justin’s had never heard of with how little he cared. Gabriel shifted uncomfortably when he got no reaction and tried to somehow get away from Justin despite knowing he was tied down.

“You do remember.” Gabriel jumped at blank, but somehow still accusatory, words. There was a few seconds where Gabriel looked genuinely horrified by him, where it looked like the meister was going to pass out from pure fear. Justin wasn’t moving, wasn’t making any kind of angry expression or saying any kind of threat, but Gabriel was scared all the same. Justin was used to it, they all made the same expression when they realized their punishment was unavoidable and their time had come. Gabriel’s face twisted into an unholy anger, trying to scare off or otherwise run away from his impending fate. A last pathetic attempt to survive, to deny that he had brought himself here. 

“Course I do! Guy wouldn’t fucking shut up, shrieked like a motherfucker about everything! Knew I should’ve put a bullet in his head the second I could!” Justin’s lips quirked up into the tiniest smile and his eyes turned fond. That sounded like Giriko. He really wished he had gone on that mission, both to protect Giriko but also just to see him making a fuss like he always did. The way he could whip up trouble anywhere he wanted to and get mad at anything he wanted to was exhausting but there was also nothing Justin liked to watch more. He loved seeing Giriko so vivid and alive, burning with all the fire inside of him even after all those centuries that had tried to stifle him. Gabriel had tried to stifle him.

“The heavens and Lord Death have shown you a true kindness by stopping your hand before it hurt Giriko more than it already has.” Gabriel shrunk back ever so slightly, scared about where Justin was going with this. Rolling back onto his toes Justin crouched at the end of the table and stared down at Gabriel with gleaming eyes. The moonlight was far brighter than it had any right being, it had taken far too long for Gabriel to wake up. 

“For every drop of blood you took, for every inch of skin he lost and every pain he suffered you will pay that back in fold.” Justin wasn’t even including what Gabriel owed for wasting their time, and for keeping them apart with his general awfulness. Even beyond that, there was also what he owed for getting Giriko mad at him, for making him wear these clothes and trying to kiss him. Gabriel had quite the long list to make up for. 

“I won’t stop until you’ve shown your repentance, and repentance is a funny thing; it only starts once you’ve truly began to regret what you’ve done.” Gabriel’s skin was a warm tan, but after hearing that his color drained away and turned him a sickly grey. He was holding his breath, straining against his bonds. Justin sat down on the end of the table, jumping down and regaining his earlier position. He picked the hammer back up to test its weight in his hand. 

“That’s going to take far more than just feeling the wounds you caused.” Gabriel wasn’t even looking at him anymore, his teeth were bit down as he prepared himself for what he knew was coming any second now. Justin frowned and tapped at his ankle, drawing his attention again, forcing him to listen and understand the punishment he was to be given. There would be no point if he didn’t know what his part in all of this was. 

“And after that is forgiveness. Do you think you are deserving of forgiveness? Surely not now, but after you repent do you think you will have earned mercy?” Justin wasn’t looking for an answer and Gabriel was smart enough to know that. The only point in him saying that was to remind him that there was an outcome he should be hoping for here, that if he worked hard and showed his sincere repentance there might be a chance for him to survive.  _ Might  _ being the keyword here.

“There's a thin chance. Giriko is the final judge here, he was the one you have wronged, and while he doesn’t have much mercy in his heart, there’s still a chance. The wound wasn’t that big.” A gust of air came out from Gabriel, a breath of relief. It was clear he was hanging onto that lifeline with everything he had. Justin smiled, it was always best when they kept trying until the very end, it gave them more of a chance to find the regret in their heart. He was giving them an unbelievable mercy, letting them find their salvation while they were still on earth so they could have the chance to be granted a kinder final judgement. 

“ _ However _ if you left him unable to exact his revenge on his own, or dared to kill him, it would be up to me, his partner, to decide if you deserve forgiveness.” Justin picked up the ice pick he had retrieved earlier poked his finger on the tip to test it's sharpness. Rivets of bright red ran down his hand and dropped onto Gabriel’s leg, making the disgusting mess of a man jump out of his skin. 

“Your death a thousand times over wouldn’t be enough for me to even consider forgiving you. Be grateful and cry at Lord Death’s infinite mercy that Giriko is alive to be the judge here, for if it was me you would stay here for a long time as I learned everything I ever wanted to know about the human body.” Gabriel crumpled with a pathetic whine under Justin’s quiet rage, sufficiently horrified by the suffocating soul wavelength Justin was emitting with his conviction. The dark atmosphere stayed stagnant for awhile as Justin glowered down at the sinner below him, watching for any sign of struggle. When he found none, perked back up with a bright smile, pleased Gabriel had come to an understanding and decided to accept his already lax punishment. 

“Now then, shall we begin? It really won’t take long, I have amazing practice with this type of thing.” Gabriel didn’t answer but Justin didn’t mind, he picked up Gabriel’s dominant foot and rolled the ankle around a few times to remind himself how the joint laid. It cracked a couple times, unused to being stretched out like this and Justin laid it on it's side so the outside of his foot was facing the ceiling. He traced the pick over the knobby bone that stuck out the side and watched how Gabriel jumped.

“This is the fibula, it’s thick and it’d take far too long to pierce through, it might even break my pick. I don’t want to touch that.” A shaky breath flooded out of Gabriel as he tried to remind himself to breathe, Justin didn’t pay it any mind and rocked his foot to over so the sensitive inside was exposed. Poking around for a second he pressed and searched for where the bones met under all the tendons and muscles.

“What I want to do is break between the tibia and the calcaneus, which will disconnect your foot from your leg. There’s a bundle of ligaments here though, so it will take some hammering to get through.” Resting the pick between where the bones should meet Justin wiggled it a bit, feeling the pick dip ever so slightly between the bones and confirmed he was in the right spot. Gabriel’s toes curled up and his entire body went rigid with anticipation, Justin wondered if he should tell the man that tensing up like that would only make it worse. He supposed he could just show him first hand why that was a bad idea. Tapping the hammer against the top of the pick in a controlled but firm smack he smiled at the horrible scream he got as pick pressed against the wound up muscle and bounced away. 

“My my, It’s going to take much longer if you hold yourself so taut, your muscles are trying so hard to protect you that there only hurting you in the process. Why not take a deep breath? If you just relax it will be over soon.” The slur of swear words and insults that spilled from Gabriel’s lips were so pained and wet that Justin could only shake his head. Normally he preferred his headphones in situations like these, he hated being distracted from his work by such dribble, however… right now he was quite enjoying Gabriel’s poor self control. He wanted to hear the pain first hand and know that Gabriel was feeling the repercussions of his actions. He tapped the pick again and listened to the garbled scream.

“I’m past enough of the muscle that I could hurry this up for you, but in return it will hurt far more than it already does. What do you say?” Justin wiggled the pick the last little bit past the muscles and rested it against the stubborn cartilage that stopped him from just popping the joint with a quick pull. He looked back at Gabriel with a warm smile, waiting to hear how the man would respond. The death glare he was being given was completely expected and sweat dripping off of Gabriel didn’t inspire a lick of pity inside of him. 

“You're asking me to be an active participant in my own torture? What kind of sick bastard are you?” Gabriel’s voice was hoarse from his screams and Justin let his smile drop into a disappointed frown. How boring was he? Did he not want to pick what was going to happen and ease his pain in rather time or severity? Digging the pick into the cartilage Justin started to separate the hard fatty substance from the bone. There was no point in cleaning and scraping the bone like this, it wouldn’t do anything to break the joint apart, he was just messing around while he was waiting for his answer. Gabriel made a long deep groan and his back arched as he tried to escape. 

“Hurry it up! I fucking get it you disgusting freak!” Slamming the hammer down against the pick Justin severed the connection between the bones and completely shattered the joint. Gabriel tried to scream but only ended up choking on his tongue and coughing horrible wet coughs that were followed by a pained series of dry heaves. Justin retracted the pick with a gentleness that was unbefitting of the situation and grabbed onto Gabriel’s foot to bend it back. He kept going until the man’s heel kissed his ankle, making sure he had severed the connection entirely and the foot was entirely useless. Gabriel’s strangled cries got louder with every movement and shift. If it weren’t for the fact that Justin knew he definitely wouldn’t get an answer he would ask whether it was the shards of bone still stuck deep within his flesh that hurt so much, or if it was his muscles ripping as they were bent around in ways they were never meant to go. 

“You’re not crying yet. I didn’t expect you to be so used to pain, I thought you were just being fed souls, did you really go hunt them yourself?” Justin couldn’t help the surprise in his voice, he was actually shocked that Gabriel was taking this so well. With how much of a tool Gabriel looked like Justin was expecting him to start sobbing immediately, he had really thought the man was all talk. Dropping his foot Justin looked over with curious eyes, making apparent that he actually wanted an answer here. 

“Who the fuck do you think I am? Some spoiled brat? Do really have such little faith in your shitty boyfriend to think he lost to a guy who couldn’t even handle that?” Justin tilted his head in confusion, trying to figure out if Gabriel had actually taken that as a boost to his ego. It seemed like he had, like he was taking Justin’s words as a compliment. Justin wasn’t even sure how to react to that. There was a moment of weird silence and then a smile stretched up Justin’s lips, tight and wicked. 

“That’s quite a thing to say, do you want me to try harder? Do you want to impress me with what you can handle?” Gabriel cowered slightly and Justin’s smile grew wider as he hummed. It didn’t take a genius to call that bluff, but Justin didn’t let people back out of things after they had promised him something interesting. Giriko knew that firsthand. Someone couldn’t say whatever they wanted to Justin and not be prepared to ride it to hell. Cleaning the pick on the end of Giriko’s shirt Justin let silence drag over them as he decided what he wanted to do. 

“I really only needed to make sure you couldn’t run, but if you want to keep playing I’m sure I can think of something…” An uncertain laugh dripped out of Gabriel’s lips and he tried to break the rope around his arms. It was clear he was starting to be hit with a big wave of regret, to bad it was for the wrong thing.

“You see the hard part of this is that there's  _ so much  _ I want to do, but it’d be rude of me to play with my ‘shitty boyfriend’s’ gift.” Justin trailed his cold fingers over Gabriel’s swollen and discolored ankle and pressed down, feeling the fluid that had built up inside squish around like a poorly filled water balloon. The pathetic kick and stifled moan he got let him know that hurt far more than any light poke should have. 

“Of course… if you promise not to tell we can have all the fun you’d like. What do you say? Do you want to have fun with me? I’m sure Giriko would appreciate your help, I can be a lot to deal with.” It was a game of chicken here, if Gabriel has the common sense to admit that he couldn’t handle ‘playing’ then it would be over. Justin would finish what he had originally planned to do and leave Gabriel to Giriko. Gabriel could save himself from this, but it had to be at the sake of his pride. It was an incredibly generous offer Justin was giving, letting him escape as easily as this. At least it  _ should  _ be easy for him, it would be easy for anyone with any sense of humility, but Justin had a pretty good feeling Gabriel had none.

“I don’t know what a sick fuck like you constiutes as fun, but if you think you're gonna scare me you're wrong.” Justin smiled again, bright and beaming. He hadn’t gotten an excuse like this in a long time, he hadn’t had anyone this stupid in here in a long time. Walking back to the cabinets with a sing songy hum he savored the way Gabriel sagged in a mixture of self hatred and utter defeat. The way he pulled one of the tracked drawers out was too excited and the glass bottles all clinked against each other with the sudden movement.

“I was  _ hoping  _ you’d say that.” The bottles he had really looked far more intimidating than they were, it wasn’t like there was any kind of generic poison with skulls and crossbones anywhere. Most of the stuff he had was fairly tame, things you could find in drug stores. He was barely an adult after all, he didn’t have access to anything fancy unless he asked the academy. He didn’t need anything special though, he had enough creativity to do his job with any and everything he was given. 

“So what were you thinking? I’m open to requests, is there anything you’ve always wanted to try?” Justin didn’t really have any plans in place, he hadn’t been expecting this turn of events. He turned a couple bottles around so he could look at their labels, looking for any kind of inspiration. 

“Yeah I’m really into the idea of you kissing my ass.” Turning around with an unimpressed frown he wasn’t all that surprised to see a smug smile waiting for him. In different circumstances Justin had a bad feeling that Giriko would probably get along with this guy, or maybe they’d have such similar personalities that they’d repel each other like polar magnets. Regardless there was no point in wondering, there wasn’t going to be anything but hatred between them now. 

Justin went back to looking for something to use, not justifying that comment with any kind of response. When his fingers brushed against an old bottle of bleach he paused slightly. The stench of urine suddenly felt more suffocating than it had before. Gently extracting the bottle he opened a drawer looking for a small cloth, he had an idea he couldn’t wait to see come to fruition. 

The scrap he found wasn’t big, but it was enough to cover his mouth and nose, which was all he needed. Opening another drawer he pulled out an old tin of baking soda and a small plate. He could feel Gabriel getting antsy with all the noise, it was obvious that Justin had started work on something and he was starting to crack under the anticipation. Justin didn’t pay his panic any mind. He quickly folded the cloth on top of the plate and moved to saturate it with water. The old pipes made a weird gagging noise before spitting up water and Gabriel jumped a foot, obviously surprised a room like this had plumbing. Justin only sighed at the man’s ignorance. Really, how could he be expected to clean up all the blood and flesh this room saw without water? 

Taking a small spoon to measure out a bit of baking soda onto the cloth he made to saturate the whole thing in the solution before wringing it out and turning it around with pressed over his mouth and nose, the bottle of bleach in his other hand and his eyes closed in a false innocence. It was obvious that Gabriel had no idea what Justin’s plan was here, but seeing the precautions being put in place gave him enough of an indication. 

“I haven’t played with chlorine gas before, so you’ll be my first. I’m sure that’s thrilling for you. After all you wanted to impress me, what better way to do that than to show me something I’ve never seen before?” Justin’s voice was muffled by the cloth, but Gabriel had no problem understanding him. The man bent and arched weirdly, trying to scooch himself back but being stopped by the ropes still tight around his knees. Justin unscrewed the top of the jar with his thumb and the smell of bleach started to mix with the scent of urine. A dangerous combination waiting to happen. 

“Now you see, the interesting part of this is that the urine here is stuck to your skin, meaning the second I pour this bleach onto you chlorine gas will form right on your flesh. What will that do? You do know chlorine is corrosive on human skin don’t you?” Getting closer Justin moved to spill the bleach over Gabriel, watching how the meister tensed up and his stomach started to twitch with how hard he was trying to bend away. Justin stopped right before even a drop spilled over and smiled warmly. The breath Gabriel let out was so relieved that Justin could only laugh lightly.

“Are you scared? You know I’m choosing this because it will have low damage, and it’ll be hard for other people to notice that anything even happened. Surely it will be better than having your foot hammered through if there is no big wound.” Gabriel gave him a confused look and actually seemed to relax slightly, Justin gave him a soft hum of encouragement and then poured the entire jar down onto the seat of Gabriel’s pants and ducked. The reaction was immediate and the scream that bounced and echoed off the walls made Justin sigh in disappointment. He wished he could see the expression Gabriel was making, but he didn’t dare to come out from under the table until the gas had a chance to dissipate. 

“How was it? Did it hurt more or less than your foot?” The completely enraged scream Gabriel made in response to that had all the tether points around Justin strain as Gabriel tried to rip them right out of the ground. That was an answer on it's own, apparently it had hurt a fair deal more. Justin was excited to see the wound it left behind, the wound that was probably getting worse and worse with every second it was trapped under Gabriel’s now chlorinated pants. 

“You fucking bitch! Get out from wherever you're hiding and face me! You wanted to see what it did huh!? Why the fuck are you hiding!?” The screams were followed by a series of horrible coughs, it was undoubtable that Gabriel had breathed in some of the gas while trying to talk, it probably burnt quite a bit. Removing the cloth from his face Justin ripped it into two pieces and wrapped them around his fingers before getting back up.

“Be patient, I didn’t want to gas myself, I’m sure you can understand.” The sharp mocking laugh that came out of Gabriel as he strained against his bonds again sounded so bloodthirsty that Justin could only raise an eyebrow and smile. Gabriel was sure trying to be threatening here, it made him look like a pathetic dog pulling against its leash. It obviously didn’t perturb Justin at all and he got one of his knees up onto the table so he could carefully use his wrapped up fingers to yank down Gabriel’s pants and assess the damage. It was quite the bloodbath.

“Hmm, maybe it’d be in your best interest to not look for Giriko’s mercy, unless of course you want to live the rest of your life neutered.” The entirety of Gabriel’s crotch was crab red, parts of his skin had completely cracked and melted off and the parts that hadn’t were covered in an odd orange peel like texture of bumps. Justin knew he had pretty much done the equivalent of shoving a gas bomb down his pants, but he was honestly impressed with the amount of damage it did. This was a little bit cruel even for him. 

“You piece of shit, the second I can I’m going to make you regret being born! I’m going to tear your scrawny ass apart! Are you scared of actually fighting me? Is it because you know you're going to lose you little coward!?” Justin snorted and pulled Gabriel’s pants the rest of the way down to let the wound breathe a bit. He wouldn’t be a Death Scythe if there was even a chance that he’d lose to someone like this. This man truly had far too much self confidence. Jumping off the table Justin moved back to the plate of baking soda water and carried it over to dump the remainder of it over Gabriel’s crotch. It was a kindness, a bit of an apology, it would neutralize the leftover chlorine and stop the wound from getting any worse. Gabriel of course didn’t know that though and bent all up trying to protect himself. Justin sighed and watched as Gabriel got ready for the worst only to sag in relief when there was no reaction.

“I think we’ve had plenty of fun today, you seem worn out. I’ll be back soon, take this moment to breathe.” With that Justin put everything away and pulled the light cord to bathe the room in darkness as he left, followed by empty pathetic threats and pained coughs. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me I just... idk man. This is probably the most brutal thing I've ever written but i'm honestly not sure. It's the longest gore piece I've ever done though. uh, let me know what you think? I never really managed to gross myself out so maybe its pretty lowkey and not as bad as I think it is but I'm honestly not sure. Lmk if this is the limit or if you guys want something worse


	5. Kill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit I'm done, it came out a bit weird but I'm done and thats whats important. Please enjoy the brutality and be warned for lots of blood!

Justin was humming, eyes sweetly closed as he drained out the excess fluids that had built up in Gabriel’s ankle. The man wasn’t going to be alive long enough for an infection to really form but visuals were important too, a gift wasn’t nearly as special if it looked like it was just left to rot in a corner. That was why Justin was taking the time to clean the man so thoroughly, rinsing off his muddied, bloodied skin and pulling his pants back up, ignoring the way he cringed at the rough denim going over his raw flesh. 

Gabriel had said something when he first entered, shocked to see Justin in his uniform despite being told that he was dealing with a Death Scythe. Justin saw the word  _ ‘Zealot’  _ and  _ ‘Fraud’  _ pass the man’s lips before he got to work, not paying much attention to whatever Gabriel was trying to say to him. Now that he had his headphones back there was far less pressure to actually keep up conversation, he could just ignore the man’s screaming for attention. It made all of this much more soothing. Gabriel didn’t seem to agree with that. He looked far more upset than he had yesterday now that he was being ignored. 

Pressing down on Gabriel’s ankle to get the remaining fluid build up out in the small dish he had placed under the man’s foot he smiled at how Gabriel jumped and bent around in pain. Really so dramatic over there, the release of fluid should’ve felt good, it was getting rid of the painful swelling of the area, he should be grateful if nothing else. Finishing off with a few more squeezes to make sure he had gotten rid of everything Justin took the dish away and dumped it on the floor with little concern about where the fluid would go, there was a drain somewhere around. 

It would still be a few days until Giriko was healed enough to take his gift without being in danger of losing again, and Justin was starting to wonder what he should do until then. He couldn’t exactly leave on a mission with someone taking up his workspace, and not doing anything sat wrong with the scythe… but really what was left? He couldn’t keep playing with Gabriel. He already felt bad enough for giving into desire and messing around with what wasn’t his yesterday. He felt as if he had stolen a bite of someone’s birthday cake before even giving it to them. 

Looking tiredly over to Gabriel he looked at the man screaming and struggling, apparently a lot of fight left in him. He seemed very hung up on the way Justin was dressed, saying something about how he didn’t know the academy had a cult before changing his story and saying he didn’t know Death’s worshippers did crap like this. Justin couldn’t help but roll his eyes when Gabriel started to recite the promise of all of Death’s devout children, acting as if Justin didn’t know them.  _ ‘Show mercy to all, all are equal in the eyes of Death.’ _

“You think I’m not showing you mercy here? You really don’t understand the gravity of your sins to have ended up here. Death himself asked for your execution.” From the way Gabriel’s teeth grit together it was obvious he had realized there was nothing he could say to stop this from happening. Justin could only pity him for thinking there was ever a chance for him to get out of this. No one who entered this room, sans Justin and Lord Death himself, ever came out alive. The second someone found themselves here it was over for them. They should know that. 

“ _ Repentance _ , my job is to inspire repentance remember? That is a mercy I’m giving you, I’m getting you ready for your final judgement.” Gabriel’s struggling started back up and a slew of curse words stumbled out of his mouth, calling Justin every manner of disgusting things. Justin let it all mix into his music with an amused smile and moved to place the bowl down near the sink. Really, they needed to learn that insults like this only proved they didn’t understand their sin yet, if they wanted to ease their suffering they really should be asking for forgiveness. Always so stupid. 

“I don’t know what kind of repentance you were hoping to inspire pressing up against me at the bar, if you're really one of Death’s prayer boys you should be the one looking for forgiveness here. I don’t think he’d be too happy with you giving into desire.” Justin felt an anger spike up in him in response to Gabriel’s words. His expression, which was smug and filled with humor, turned serious and infuriated, barely held back violence as he glowered down. Gabriel seemed more than satisfied that he had elicited that response, his lips quirked up, one of his eyes closing awkwardly as sweat dripped down his skin.

“So you weren’t supposed to be doing that, huh? Wanted to try playing around so you looked for some kind of excuse to do it. I don’t mind angel, I can give you a lot more if you let me go.” Self control, Justin prided himself in his self control but this man was testing him something awful. He took a deep breath before forcing a smile on his face and tilting his head to the side in a mock confusion, making it seem like it was sure an outlandish offer that he couldn’t even understand where it had come from. Mocking the man for even considering something like that possible. 

“You’re fooling yourself a lot thinking you're worthy of even the thought of touching me. The sins you have gathered keep culminating with your filthy mouth and are darkening your soul.” Gabriel huffed a laugh in response, pulling his arms again somehow thinking this time he’d finally snap the ropes that hadn’t budged at all. Justin only stared down with a raised brow, waiting for the response Gabriel clearly wanted to give. Gabriel was truly someone pitiful acting like he was, trying to hold onto his dignity as if it wasn’t already long gone. Justin would humor him though, he had plenty of time to burn and wasn’t interested in just sitting around with a cranky Giriko who had only been complaining about his foot and how he still couldn’t walk right. 

“I’m not worthy but your boyfriend is? Have you looked at him?” Like an electric pulse had shot through him Justin stiffened up, making sure he wouldn’t make his rage obvious. It was one thing to have the other DWMA members talking shit about Giriko, but for this man to be and to be using it as an excuse to leer… that was something unforgivable. Justin moved to the side of the table Gabriel was strapped to, relishing at how the man flinched in fear and stayed bunched up for a second, expecting violence. When he sat down on the side, right besides Gabriel’s hip with a smile that screamed ill intent he spent a moment just humming, letting the other work himself into a frenzy trying to figure out what was going to happen next.

“Giriko certainly has a long list of sins under his belt, but it's my job to make him pay them off, I saw his potential and decided to keep him. He’s been quite good as of late, going out to complete missions and do what the academy has asked of him. I’ve done a good job with him, haven’t I?” Gabriel was sweating, unsure of where this was going and as to why Justin had gotten so close. Justin himself wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to do next, he had a lot of ideas, but most would ruin everything here. He rested a nail against his lower lip, pulling it down ever so slightly as he leaned down to get them closer together, Gabriel’s breath stopped. 

“He’d do a lot for me, that’s why I’m doing this for him. Would you try to pay back your sins for me? Look for the holy light of forgiveness? Would you go face to face with Lord Death and give up your pride as an agent of the kishin’s sin?” Justin’s eyes were unmovingly focused on Gabriel’s, looking at his fear with an analytical judgement. Watching how the man shook, on the edge of pissing himself as Justin’s cold cross brushed against his exposed chest. Gabriel was finally learning fear, seeing his morality, understanding where he was. It wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy Justin. 

“I don’t think you would, you’re far too much of a coward. Beyond that though… you don’t just need Lord Death’s forgiveness like he did. You need his forgiveness, as well as mine. You’ve dug yourself a hole far deeper than he had, it's impressive.” Letting his hand brush through Gabriel’s hair he pulled it up and made the man expose his throat, running the end of his nails sharp against his adams apple, tracing where the slice of a guillotine would hit. It bobbed heavily with a tense and scared swallow. Justin let go and looked down in disappointment when Gabriel kept his head faced upward, refusing to face the scythe. 

“Look at you… already giving up.” That seemed to kick start something in Gabriel and his neck snapped back to glare at Justin with a fire, daring him to say that again. Justin smiled. This was exactly what he wanted, he wanted all the hatred in Gabriel to come out, he wanted this fight to be interesting for Giriko, for it to feel real and satisfying. Standing back up Justin moved to leave, wanting the meister to brew in his hatred and build it up into something explosive, something fun.

“I think you know your ending is coming, I’d recommend finding a way to end with a sense of accomplishment, make yourself memorable and not just another executed sinner.” He could see Gabriel gritting his teeth, looking for something to say but finding nothing. Justin smiled, sharp and satisfied as he closed his hands around the old golden knob and undid the locks to the door. He wondered what the man would look like the next time he was down here, what he would come up with to say, it was sure to be fun. Swinging the door open he moved to step out before he was abruptly stopped.

“Giriko?” Out of everything that Justin could’ve expected to be waiting for him on the opposite side of the door, the enchanter was nowhere to be found on that list. He had no idea how the man had even gotten down here, he didn’t have the keys to the Death Scythe’s wing of the basements. Someone had to have let him down here, and who the hell would’ve done that? A bit of anger sparked in Justin but didn’t manage to catch before Giriko grabbed onto him and pushed him back into the room, slamming the door behind them and locking them back in together. 

“Here you are you goddamn piece of shit, have you been having fun hiding from me while I’m crippled?” Giriko was  _ livid  _ and it was more than apparent in his voice, Justin couldn’t help but shrink a little and give his best puppy eyes. It didn’t work even a little bit, if anything it only seemed to make Giriko even more mad, his grip tightened and he pulled Justin up by the arm in a punishing way, reminding the scythe that he was little and easy to scold. Justin found himself grow annoyed in turn and tried to tug his arm back to no avail.

“I’m not hiding from you Giri, I’ve been busy.” He tried a few more times to rip his arm back but it wasn’t working at all, Giriko’s grip was vice tight and only getting tighter. It was clear he wasn’t going to let Justin out of this and was in fact going to scold the scythe as if he had some kind of authority over him when it really was the opposite. The enchanter was far too self assured thinking he could do that… but at the same time he could, Justin didn’t really have anyway to stop him. Surprisingly Gabriel did, and coughed in a way that demanded attention.

The scream that came out of Giriko was so high pitched his voice cracked. It’d be funny if it weren’t for the fact that he had also jumped high enough that Justin whimpered when his arm was pulled up so violently that he felt as if it’d dislocate. It was obvious Giriko had thought they were alone and was more than horrified to learn that was not the case. His chains whirred out in self defense and he turned to face the threat with Justin pulled weirdly close to him. It was an awkward position and Justin grunted as he felt himself being smothered in the older man’s chest. 

“Do you guys get off making out in front of your victims? Cause if not please spare me this melodrama.” Justin didn’t think it was possible for Giriko’s grip to get tighter here, but it most certainly did, and only got worse when the scythe tried to wiggle and whine to be let go. He honestly wasn’t sure if Giriko was trying to protect him here or just use him as a teddy bear to squeeze all his fear out into… maybe it was a mixture, maybe there was some rage mixed into all of that. From the way Giriko stiffened up and puffed out his chest in aggression it was clear he had put together just who was in here with them and wasn’t happy about it. 

“How the fuck did you get here!? What the hell!?” The way Giriko screamed it made it so Justin could hear each word loud and clear despite his headphones. He could even hear the panic and fear in Giriko’s voice and started struggling again, a long complaining warble coming out of him that should’ve let Giriko know he had to let go before any kind of conversation could take place. Giriko didn’t loosen his grasp even a smidge. His chest was heaving with such infuriated breaths that Justin wondered if Gabriel had responded somehow, if Giriko was even paying attention to him anymore. Wiggling again Giriko humored him this time, grabbing the back of his cross and winding it up like a leash to pull him back, not releasing him in anyway but letting him breathe and see what was going on. 

“Little scythe what have you done here? What brilliant idea lead you to this?” It was hard to catch his breath with his cross digging so intensely into his throat, but Justin managed to take a few shaky breaths and raise a brow. He was amazed Giriko was trying this, he had certainly found a lot of confidence and self entitlement to have suddenly decided he could do this without any repercussions. Giriko didn’t back down even a little bit, and even yanked the cross back harder, forcing a pathetic strained noise out of Justin. The tension between them was so awful it was amazing neither of them were looking to start violence. 

“Correcting your mistake lead us here  _ darling,  _ aren’t you so grateful I found him for you?” Justin’s voice was hoarse with how he was being pulled on, but that didn’t drown the dangerous tone of his voice at all. His rage was still crystal clear. That wasn’t his pet name for Giriko, he had never used that term before in his life actually, it was a warning. He wasn’t interested in being yelled at for this, not when he had done all of this because he loved Giriko. Each word that passed through his lips accentuated that. He was telling Giriko loud and clear that he should be  _ thankful _ that this was done for  _ him.  _

“No I’m not, what the fuck were you thinking!?” It stung more than Justin would ever admit, something deep inside of him cracked and bled in pain. He wasn’t expecting rejection here, he thought Giriko loved him and would be happy to see how much Justin loved him. As if to add to the humiliation of being rejected Gabriel laughed horribly from his spot behind them, finding satisfaction in how poorly this went. Justin could feel himself droop despite trying to keep his righteous anger intact. When the painful grip on his cross loosened and let it drop back around his neck Justin found himself looking down at it with a numb depression. 

“Justin you could’ve gotten killed, what made you think going somewhere I had just fucking told you was dangerous,  _ alone _ , was a good idea?” Giriko finally let him out of the oppressive hug, instead holding onto his face and forcing him to make eye contact. It was obvious that Giriko wasn’t  _ angry  _ here, but that just made things frustrating instead of depressing. Justin strengthened his glare, making obvious that he wasn’t going to let himself be convinced this had been a bad idea. He didn’t like this stifling protective streak going on. Giriko had never acted this much like a mother hen before, this failure was really getting to him… Justin’s resolve strengthened, they needed to fix this. 

“Because you need to finish what you’ve started, you're not going to feel better until you do.” Giriko’s face bent up in a mixture of confusion, anger and embarrassment. It looked like the enchanter was tripping through each part of that sentence trying to decide what he wanted to address first. The shocking and slow processing of it all made him look as old as he was and if Justin wasn’t so committed right now he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from laughing. Giriko was so colorful and amusing to watch, even as angry as Justin was right now he couldn’t help but enjoy the other try and catch up. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to enjoy it very long before it was ruined for him.

“How are you going to feel better if you need your boyfriend to dress up like a slut and torture a man to win a simple fight?” Gabriel’s voice was so unbelievably snarky for someone who was tied to a table that it was impressive, or would be impressive if Justin wasn’t sick of this shit. The glare he shot over towards the meister was venomous and the room’s atmosphere turned cold and dangerous. He moved to break away from Giriko, to somehow rip out the meister’s tongue and finally shut that stupid voice up, he didn’t make it a step. Giriko’s grip tightened painfully, enough that Justin gasped and all his volatile energy petered out as he looked back to see the enchanter in an uncharacteristically silent rage.

Justin wasn’t one to ever get nervous, especially not when it came to Giriko. The man was pathetic, in the best way of course but still pathetic. Justin  _ knew  _ the enchanter had hit the end of the road after Arachne died and was now nothing more than a bottomed out nobody kicking pebbles. He  _ knew  _ he was the best Giriko could’ve gotten after all of that and knew there was no point in worrying about anything actually happening. He knew those things but… right now might just disprove them. Justin didn’t doubt his actions, he never did because he thought about everything he did beforehand and decided if it was just before planning. He made sure he never strayed from what was expected of him as a Death Scythe… He was perfect, he never lost that perfection but…

Giriko lifted him off his feet and he stayed completely silent, sweating and refusing to look over at the other man’s expression. He didn’t do anything wrong, but he certainly felt as if he did. Why wasn’t Giriko saying anything? What was he thinking? The tension in the room was just as dangerous as Justin had made it earlier, but he wasn’t the threat here anymore, Giriko was. Justin felt himself get lifted up far higher than he could make sense of, and then Giriko put him down on the counter. Pushing him back far enough onto it that he’d have to really try to get off. When they finally made eye contact again and Justin felt all the blood rush out of his face and leave his skin pale as he saw an unfamiliar wrath behind the enchanter’s gaze.

“Sit the  _ fuck  _ still. Don’t you dare move, don’t even fucking speak until it's over.” Justin found himself nodding in obedience before he even processed what was happening. There was a heavy atmosphere that screamed now wasn’t the time to be messing around, and Justin didn’t test his luck. He honestly wasn’t sure if he was trying to be good, if he was scared of Giriko or if he just wanted to see what was going to happen… whatever it was he watched in an amazed silence as Giriko pulled away and his face began to fracture down over one of his eyes. 

The red scuffed metal that gradually became exposed with the expanding cracks that peeled away at Giriko’s face was undoubtedly the hidden engine of his weapon form. Justin breath caught in his throat just watching it. He had  _ never  _ seen this part of Giriko, not even when they had been fighting for real as enemies. All of this… it was all so out of the normal for them that Justin wasn’t able to do anything but grasp onto his cross with white knuckles, wide eyes taking the whole situation in greedily. 

Giriko wasn’t like him, his soul wasn’t the same as Justin’s, it didn’t need to be exposed in a fight, or at least in an execution like Justin’s blade did. Giriko’s chains were important, but extraneous. His engine was his soul. He was exposing his soul right now. Justin was seeing Giriko’s soul for the first time and it was twisting up his heart something awful, turning his face red and making it hard to breathe. It was obvious the enchanter could tell how overwhelmed and excited Justin was getting and wasn’t pleased with it, his hand came down heavy on the scythe’s head falling down to cup his face and tilt it up. Justin felt his heartbeat thrum through his whole body, every move and brush of skin felt just the slightest bit more dangerous, more intense with Giriko’s unfamiliar mood. 

The sound of tearing chains started up deafeningly, ripping past Justin’s headphones and making the scythe flinch and try to pull away with the shock, Giriko’s grip on his chin tightened. The reminder that he should be scared right now of course didn’t actually frighten Justin, but he did find his amusement drop and become replaced with a silent shocked amazement. The part of Giriko’s face that had fractured to show his motor had become a large triangular gash that ran over his eye and curled over into his mouth. His sharp teeth had turned to overly sharp chain and were now spinning up into his head, the break over his eye showing just where the chains turned around to keep the shredding pace. 

There was already smoke coming out of the thin vents that had appeared on the sides of his jaw.

Justin couldn’t see souls like meister’s could, like Gabriel could, but he could get a feeling for the sheer amount of power coming off of Giriko right now. The scent of 800 years of bloodlust thought to have been sated was so heavy in the air that Justin felt the slightest bit dizzy. Something inside him said he should probably stop this, but at the same time he had brought Gabriel here to let Giriko get all this rage out of his system, so this was surely the best case scenario… wasn’t it? 

The sound of Giriko’s chains finally unwinding and coming out to attack was sharp and shredding, the ribbons were moving so fast that they weren’t staying on the tracks of Giriko’s body. Every single sharp link was whipping around with dangerous biting lashes as they threaded back into the enchanter’s head. It looked horrific, it looked demonic… No one else in history had ever sold the term demon weapon more than Giriko did right now. He was standing so stockley that it looked like he wasn’t even all there, like he was caught up in his own head, thinking about everything that was making him so mad here over and over again. Killing himself in rumination… getting ready to kill Gabriel with the force of all the pain he was building up inside of himself. 

“I went easy on ya before, didn’t want to give 100% for some mission the Academy gave me.” Giriko’s voice was too quiet and Gabriel’s arms twisted against the ropes, trying to break free so he could defend himself from the absolutely livid chainsaw approaching him. The glare on his face looked pathetic and scared, Justin’s toes curled up in anticipation as Giriko’s chains came to a dead halt. The moment of silence between all of them was suffocating, no one, except maybe Giriko, was breathing. There was a heartbeat that echoed within Justin’s whole body. One of Giriko’s legs came down, chains spinning and shredding the small section of table peeking out from between Gabriel’s legs. An obvious threat. 

“This isn’t about that dumb crap anymore, now you got to pay for something I actually care about.” Giriko had stopped his chains again, making sure there was no way for his words to be left unheard. Gabriel struggled against his bonds once again, trying desperately to somehow get away from the enchanter that was most certainly going to harm or disfigure him in someway. All the haughty self confidence he had with Justin seemed to have completely melted away, rather because he found Giriko more threatening for whatever reason or because he knew Giriko wasn’t going to mess around and give him any chance for escape. 

“I’m not a fan of torture, and I’m sure Justin’s already had his fun with that… normally I’d make this fast.” Gabriel shrunk up and confirmed that the inescapableness was what was scaring him. If one were to say Justin didn’t have any mercy in his soul, there wouldn’t be any good way to argue with that. Justin didn’t agree, and felt as if Giriko’s enrollment was proof of that, but he knew there wasn’t much he could say to disprove that claim.  _ However  _ if one were to say Giriko didn’t have any mercy, they would just be speaking straight truth. Giriko was the poster boy of never forgiving and never forgetting. As if to prove that, Giriko continued. 

“You aren’t gonna get away with anything fast.” Justin felt his heart skip a beat. This was a side of Giriko he had never seen before, he had  _ never  _ seen Giriko so serious and in control while this angry. The man was like a firework, once his fuse was lit there was no saying what exactly would happen next, Giriko never even knew himself. The enchanter was far more of a ‘do now think later’ type of guy, but right now it was clear he was thinking about exactly how he wanted to go about this. How to best get his revenge. Justin swallowed thickly and his back arched in an excited subdued pleasure.

“Why the hell are you blaming me for this!? I didn’t do shit here but stop myself from being killed!” Gabriel’s voice was shaky with disbelief, shocked that this was really about to happen. It was clear that everything Justin had said and done up until now hadn’t truly processed in his mind until this moment, until he was being stared down by the person he never thought would be more than a passing annoyance. From the way his lip quivered ever so slight it was clear he was starting to panic, to realize how hopeless he was. 

“Listen, I don’t know what the fuck you did for the academy to ask for your soul and if it weren’t for my little baby scythe over there I would’ve just let you do you.” Justin was so hypnotized and his face was flushing such a warm pleasurable red that he didn’t even get annoyed at Giriko’s incompetence and scold him for not reading the mission before running headlong into it. Even if he wasn’t though… Giriko’s command to stay silent was still pulsing through his head and making his stomach squirm with confusing butterflies. 

“There was a demand for your soul though, so you were gonna die no matter what. Be it me or some other bastard.” Gabriel swore and tried to rip himself free again, not willing to go down without a fight but still tied back from starting one. Knowing Giriko, the man would probably untie Gabriel and kill him in an actual fight. He always got disgusted when it came to the academy using their vantage points to kill off whoever, so the chances of him taking advantage of having Gabriel completely vulnerable were slim… but he also wasn’t acting like Justin was used to. So there was really no telling what was about to happen. The scythe licked his lips. 

“I don’t like losing, and I had to come back and finish the goddamn mission anyway, so yeah I was going to come back and kill you no matter what. That’s not the problem right now though.” Giriko’s foot shifted from where it was rested in between Gabriel’s own and moved over to the rope that was tying the man’s knee back. It was a hint, a hope, he might actually untie the meister here, that he might turn this into a fair fight instead of just keeping it as an execution. 

“The  _ problem  _ is that you made him feel like he had to go get you, and that you touched what’s  _ mine. _ ” The shredding noise started back up and the chains emerged from Giriko’s skin and ran down his legs, the sharp hooks catching the light with a dangerous glimmer. Gabriel’s entire body tensed up for a second, his eyes pinched closed… and then opened back up confused. Giriko’s chains were whirring, right above the rope holding him down but not yet cutting him loose. Justin couldn’t see the look the two men were sharing right now from the angle he was at but from how Gabriel ripped against his bonds again something had certainly happened. 

“You're fucking insane blaming me for that!” Gabriel was spitting with his anger, arching and bending all around and trying to get his knee just that bit closer to Giriko’s shredding chains to catch the rope and break himself free. He wasn’t rolling over, he was livid, refusing to be blamed for this mess. Justin’s lips twitched into a smile and he felt himself lean forward, captivated. 

“I’m not blaming you for shit, I get what you're saying over there. That doesn’t change anything though. The fact of the matter is that you still touched him. I’ve never been ok with that.” Giriko had never sounded more to the point and unquestionable as he did in that moment, and it was only exacerbated by him swinging his leg down to cut the rope away and dig into the man’s joint. The noise that came out of Gabriel was loud enough that Justin actually felt himself jump. Still, even as loud as the man was crying out right now there was no muffling the loud squelching sound of meat being dug into and thrown around rapidly with the tearing hooks of Giriko’s chains.

There were a few abrupt movements from Giriko, his leg swinging around the entire circumference of Gabriel’s body before he kicked himself back entirely off the table to see the mess he had left behind. The moment before anything was said, any movement was made, was suffocating, the question of whether it was already over or not was heavy in the air until Giriko laughed gruffly. 

“Well? Aren’t you gonna get up? You were giving it your all but now that you're actually free you're gonna give up?” Gabriel made a horrifically angry shout and pulled himself up with a bloody anger shining in his eyes. The leg Giriko had shredded into was still connected, but just barely, even from the distance Justin was at he could see grooves carved into the side of the exposed bone… there was no way he was going to be able to stand on it, at least not without some major will power. The rest of his limbs were still perfectly intact though, the ropes expertly cut without any damage to the actual flesh. 

“You fucking coward… you want a fight? I’ll give you one to fucking remember even with your dumb handicaps!” With that the meister actually pushed himself up and stumbled to try to stand on his ruined leg. He definitely deserved points for perseverance… too bad that was all one could say. The amount of sweat dripping off his face almost matched the amount of blood pouring out of his leg with all the effort he was putting into this. There was no question that the wound on his leg was a million times worse than the one on Giriko’s now, maybe the enchanter wasn’t all that into fairness as Justin had thought. 

“What kind of fight are you hoping to give here  _ meister? _ You're unarmed, nothing without your partner to hide behind, haven’t you realized that yet?” Justin hadn’t really heard the full story of what exactly had happened on Giriko’s mission, and he really didn’t feel a huge need to know it either, but this was a bit of a hint of what exactly about it made the enchanter so angry. From the way Gabriel sputtered in response to the question Justin knew that this was going to be a huge let down. Apparently there wasn’t going to be any kind of impressive fight then, Gabriel was just another run of the mill meister who let themselves believe they were hot shit because they had a strong weapon. 

Gabriel stumbled back, looking around the room for something to defend himself with when his eyes met Justin’s own. The scythe didn’t offer anything but a disinterested and disappointed stare. This was really looking like it was going to turn out more boring than anything else, watching Giriko play with his defenseless food with no intent to actually take his revenge didn’t really do anything for Justin. This was really going to be more a test of patience than anything else. It was unbefitting of them to just play with a man like this, but he supposed it was Giriko’s gift and he should just sit back and let the other take care of it.

Justin had all but completely tuned out, was only half watching Giriko swipe sharp and deadly kicks towards Gabriel, letting the pathetic man dodge weakly and crumple to the floor in a painful pile of bones. It was obvious that Giriko was intentionally missing, wanting to finish whatever spiel he was screaming, wanting to get all his rage out before it was over. Justin looped his fingers lazily around the chain of his cross, spinning the thin metal around his digits and letting it slide around until it became all tangled up and he felt himself reminded of Giriko’s embrace.

“Is that all you’ve got!? Not even anything to say!? You’re going to let yourself die without a hint of that annoying pride!? Are you even the same disgusting disa-” Giriko’s screeching voice stopped suddenly and Justin looked up in confusion. The sharp glinting silver flying towards his face was coming fast enough that even though he dodged in pure reflex, it still caught one of his earbuds and cut it straight off the wire against the cabinet behind him. It was dead silent and Justin’s other earbud was only playing static now that it’s partner had been severed and destroyed. 

Giriko’s fists were wrapped around Gabriel’s neck, but his eyes were trained on Justin with a fearful shock, just as surprised as the scythe was at the sudden attack. There was an overwhelming sense of disbelief in the air, both that Gabriel had actually made a move to attack despite being nothing but talk until now, and that he had decided not to aim for the person currently getting ready to kill him but instead for the scythe sitting silent and unopposing in the background, for Justin. The stunned silence continued until Gabriel finally broke it with a smug, aggravated  _ “Missed.” _

The quick sharp word was enough to bring Justin back to life and realize what had just happened. The sharp piece of metal looked like the old rusty hand crank of the table Gabriel had been tied to… it was heavy and the part where it broke off was so pointed and sharp that it undoubtedly would’ve killed Justin on impact if he hadn’t dodged. Justin hadn’t even noticed Gabriel rip it off, and if Giriko did he clearly hadn’t expected it to be thrown like a goddamn spear over his shoulder and to the unaware scythe behind him. There hadn’t been any warning to this, it was a miracle Justin had looked up to notice it coming.

“Me?” Justin coughed, embarrassed by his inelegant shocked speech, before starting up again. “Why did you aim for me? That’s a very interesting choice, you have bigger fish to fry here you know?” Gabriel laughed in response, the sharp noise being cut short by Giriko lifting him up by neck. There was a bit of kicking, a gagging noise, and a few weird slams before Gabriel managed to get his feet under himself and stop himself from being strangled. The entire thing was incredibly annoying to watch and Justin was actually tempted to tell Giriko to let go so he could get his answer. 

“There’s two of you here and my legs been fucked past salvation. I’m not surviving here, might as well take the brat who started this down with me.” Silence fell over the three of them again. Gabriel’s admission that he knew he wasn’t going to survive wasn’t too shocking, but the fact that he had the clarity of mind to try and make this an eye for an eye scenario was interesting to say the least. A harsh smile broke up Justin’s face and he grabbed the shard of the metal out of the cabinet with a sharp tug. It was really in there, Gabriel must have thrown it with everything he had. Justin looked over to the meister with a slow raise of his eyebrow, ready to address the response… Giriko beat him to it.

There weren’t any words, just a weird strangled noise, the sound of a scream that had been choked down with a tongue that had gone overboard and flopped back as Gabriel tried to howl in pain. Giriko was done talking, done with screaming out his rage… he wanted blood. The wet fleshy shredding sound that scooped up gobs and gobs of red unidentifiable meat stopped with a horrible scraping sound. The ear grating, chalkboard esque scrapping continued, small breaks in between as the different chains took turns biting into what Justin could only assume was Gabriel’s humerus. Any kind of screams were being completely drowned out… and then the darkened arm fell off. 

Gabriel was panting, gagging, undoubtedly seeing stars from the rather cruel removal of his offending arm. One gag lasted an oddly long time, and then bile coated the old concrete floors with a disgusting retching sound. Giriko wasn’t saying anything but the aura around him said it all. He was  _ furious.  _ This was above and beyond even the out of character lividness from before, Gabriel had really managed to hit something deep and profound in Giriko… and now he was going to pay for it. 

Not even giving a chance for Gabriel to catch his breath, a sharp revving sound sped up the chains around Giriko’s leg before it went crashing down on the man’s already injured knee and popped the rest of it off. The way Giriko kicked the limb back behind him the second it was off to get it out of the way sent shivers down Justin’s spine and he put the old crank down, no longer interested in anything but watching. 

Giriko’s chains stopped before turning in reverse, moving slower this time but still fast enough to fuck someone up. Justin watched with wide eyes as the enchanter kicked Gabriel up and to the side, sending him flying into an old unused iron maiden with a loud bong, as if ringing a church bell. This was turning more than just brutal. Gabriel looked like a broken thrown out doll, crumpled up in the corner missing the left half of his limbs. Justin spared the slightest moment of pity for him. 

“Giving up like a coward is one thing, deciding to force your incompetence onto others by taking them by surprise…” Justin felt a confusing red color his skin as he listened to Giriko stand up for him… until he realized Giriko wasn’t standing up for him. Giriko’s teeth were grit together so painfully that Justin could feel his jaw hurt in turn. When his eyes went the slightest bit shiny it became clear just what Giriko was talking about here. Gabriel hadn’t given him a chance to stop it from happening, if Justin had died there he would’ve just been sitting useless because he had no idea it had been coming. He was furious because that wouldn’t of been the first time that had happened to him.

“I thought you were a rat, but turns out that was giving you too much credit.” The chains on Giriko started to go fast enough that plumes of smoke started to rise out of his vents, that the ribbons began to whip off their tracks again, faster this time, getting further off his body and slicing at the enchanter’s own skin, exposing more of the machinery inside of him. He rammed his foot into Gabriel’s stomach and it went in like a hot knife through butter. There was a spray of red, some gross squelching noises, but not any kind of scream. It had ended. Justin was left staring wide eyed and amazed as Giriko breathed his rage out in horrible huffs, not even pulling his foot out from where it sat inside of Gabriel. 

For a bit they just stood in a stand still. Justin didn’t dare to interrupt Giriko here, to try and bother him while he was this angry. He waited, silent and still until Giriko finally straightened back up and looked over at him with sharp but somehow tired eyes. There was an undeniable anger still clinging to Giriko, and some of it was directed towards Justin in particular, but there was also an incredible affection that was making the scythe’s heart pound in excitement. 

“Look at you, staring at me like that after what you just saw.” Justin could only smile at Giriko’s tired and disbelieving voice. He only hummed as the enchanter lifted his leg out of the meister’s bloody remains with a small struggle, needing to use his other foot to hold the corpse down to rip his foot out of the tangled ligaments and organs. There was going to be no saving Giriko’s pants here, or his shoes, he had really gotten deep in there without any consideration of clean up. Justin supposed that was fine though, especially when he saw the enchanter coming towards him with painfully loving eyes.

“There’s something seriously messed up in that pretty little head of yours.” Humming Justin tilted his chin up as Giriko moved his hand to hold it and meet their lips in a sticky kiss. Justin could taste the relief and satisfaction in Giriko, could taste his pleasure. No matter what Giriko said from here on out didn’t matter, Justin knew he had done his job here, that he had fixed this problem and eased Giriko’s mind. Arching his back Justin pushed their bodies closer together, pointing one of his legs out and wrapping his arms around the enchanter’s neck. Trapping them together, greedily taking in every inch of Giriko he could get. It was almost like he was searching for a reward, trying to rip out some kind of thanks for his service since he knew he wasn’t going to get one without forcing Giriko’s hand. 

“Jesus kid, ease up, aren’t you the slightest bit unsettled by all of this?” Justin huffed in annoyance as Giriko pulled away with a smug grin that showed he wasn’t all that unsettled either. In fact, it didn’t seem like he was unsettled at all, he just wanted answers. Wanted to hear all the details as to how this happened, couldn’t just enjoy a gift for what it was. The frown that pulled down at the scythe’s lips only seemed to encourage it all.

“Is this normal for you? You’re not even blinking. Just what did they train you for?” As soon as the words passed Giriko’s lips a weird expression of realization came over the enchanter’s face and made Justin stomach knot up in confusion and discomfort. It felt like something bad was about to happen, that he was about to hear something he didn’t want to. Bunching his fingers up into the front of Giriko’s shirt he tried to pull the other back down into a kiss, to stop the man from saying whatever he was about to. Giriko rocked back onto his face infuriatingly out of reach. 

“Is this what you're supposed to do? Is this how Lord Death taught you to show your love?” Giriko sounded genuinely curious, for once he didn’t seem to be trying to mock the scythe or otherwise get him angry… but that only made the words hit harder. Like a stake hammered straight into his back Justin felt the strings holding him up snap and his entire body sagged as he stared up at Giriko in a silent disbelief. It didn’t feel like heartbreak but from the way cold static turned his heart numb the words hadn’t done anything good to him. It felt like one of the gears in his mind had gotten knocked out of place and now half of them weren’t turning anymore. 

“Justin?” The way he stared blankly at Giriko made the other shift awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable and the slightest bit scared of what he might have knocked loose in the other. Justin didn’t so much as move for an unsettlingly long amount of time, didn’t even blink as he let the silence stretch on and Giriko sweat with the regret of vocalizing that thought. He wasn’t playing any mind games here, or trying to make Giriko rethink his decisions though, he was really just sitting thoughtless, fighting with himself so subconsciously that his mind was completely blank. 

“Did you like it? Did you get your revenge?” Giriko’s lips pulled down into a strained frown and he tried to step back, Justin’s grip around his neck stubbornly tightened and his gaze turned the slightest bit dangerous as he tilted his head in search of an answer. If he was threatening Giriko right now, he wasn’t even aware of it. Giriko obviously felt threatened but Justin really was only looking for an answer, for confirmation. He knew he did something good, but he wanted to  _ hear  _ it. 

“You’re treating me like Lord Death… aren’t you?” The horrified whispered words finally broke Justin out of his blank trance and let confusion flood in. He leaned back, finally loosening his grip so he could look at the enchanter with a disgusted questioning look, demanding clarification to the rather bold claim. 

“Acting like a cat dragging half dead animals to their owners porch.” Letting go of Giriko’s neck Justin moved his hands to the older man’s shoulders pushing him back as he got close enough that his breath was warming skin. Justin was barely listening to Giriko anymore, or at least trying not to, he turned his head as to not see the other’s lips but as if to mock him Giriko bit the lobe of his still exposed ear. He had forgotten that Gabriel knocked the bud out… 

“Are you trying to show your appreciation, an offering like the ones you give your god? Or are you just trying to teach me to be him?” Justin ripped away from Giriko to give him a sharp glare, one that screamed that if he didn’t cut it out now there wouldn’t be any going back from whatever was going to happen next. The enchanter only smiled though, smug but also the slightest bit nervous. It was like Giriko almost didn’t want the answer himself, but needed to know. 

“You always tell me to keep my egotism in check Giriko, but this is just ridiculous.” Sighing heavily Justin rolled his head over his shoulders and looked away from the enchanter, acting as if he was dealing with an annoying child rather than someone asking an invasive question. His gaze fell over to Gabriel’s mauled body and his lips pulled down into a deeper frown. Something didn’t look right about it… 

“You’ve got some serious issues kid. I can only imagine what they had to have done to turn you into this.” Giriko’s hand came soft around his cheek and tilted his face back so they could make eye contact again. This time Giriko didn’t look smug at all, he only sounded fascinated. Justin’s nose wrinkled up and his glare got worse. Giriko was just ignoring him, going on with his weird theory and not realizing how dumb he was being. 

“It was probably a lot of work. They probably put a lot of time ‘n effort into making you this devoted. This insane.” Justin’s teeth grit together and his back tensed up in annoyance, upset that they were still on this bullshit. He couldn’t really storm out still pushed back on the cabinets like this, Giriko caging him in. They were stuck in this situation until one of them gave up here and ended this… it didn’t seem like it was going to be Giriko. 

“They really made you into someone special.” The red flush that spread over Justin’s face and heated his ears was far too embarrassing, he wasn’t sure how to even respond. That was the first real, not disguised, compliment he had heard from Giriko. Well other than things that weren’t intended to be a compliment. He was in complete shock, unable to do anything to stop the slight wetness starting to glaze his eyes. His lips parted with silent words, trying to say something he didn’t quite know yet. 

Giriko stepped back, moving to the side so he could jump down and they could finally end this. Justin was stuck staring endlessly at where Giriko was. Everything felt different in a way he wasn’t sure of. Giriko put out his hand, offering it to help him down, offering it to help him accept this moment for what it was. His hand was bloodsoaked. When Justin slotted their hands together he couldn’t help but notice how gummy and sticky the blood felt, how it seemed to bond their hands together tighter than they could’ve wrapped them up themselves. 

Jumping down Justin swallowed thickly, not consciously thinking of everything that had just happened, but still able to realize he was thinking about it somewhere deep in his mind. He sighed out and looked up to Giriko with a thin smile, it was returned with one so wide and toothy that he could only laugh quietly. Giriko tugged his hand forward, moving to pull him forward, to take them home, away from all of this. Justin almost followed. 

There was still something left here though, Justin looked back at the red Kishin egg that was throbbing within the bloody heap and pulled his hand away to head over to it. Getting down onto his knees to reach out for it. This wasn’t over yet. It wouldn’t be over until he was gone, all the way down to the soul. Giriko huffed in annoyance but didn’t stop him. 

The soul was hot and pulsating, still alive with all of Gabriel’s hatred and anger. Justin started to close his hand around it, moving to crush it into nothingness and absorb it into himself. To add another soul to the hundreds, the thousands within him that granted him the ability of a Death Scythe. His fingers went tighter and tighter around it, squeezing the burning soul into a smaller space. There was a moment of hesitation, his slowly tightening grip stopped in a dead halt. Something inside him told him that this wasn’t right. That there was still something missing. 

Looking back to Giriko he saw the enchanter impatiently waiting. Standing strong and angry, still furious and glaring daggers into the remaining soul in Justin’s hand. If it were Giriko in his position Justin would be willing to bet Giriko would harvest the soul by stepping on it, a final act of hatred and disrespect. Justin stood back up, tightening his grip around Gabriel as he rose to face Giriko, to go back to the man he had done this for. Both his hands came around the soul and began to close up again, squishing the soul as he let himself fall into Giriko’s arms. 

Giriko held him warm and protective, a moment of quiet after everything that had happened. After the storm that left everything feeling a little unsure. Justin dug his nails into the soul, squeezing it with everything he had, with all the overwhelment and stress and affection and hatred of the last few hours. It throbbed between his hands as let his own soul start to press in on it, making it ache and panic right up until there was a deafening wet  _ pop _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Ok! First short multichapter fic for Girijasu done! I had way more problems with this than anticipated but it was a nice little thing to try while also working on my bigger fics, hopefully you all liked it as much as I liked writing it! Thanks for reading and making it to the end <3

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be one long thing but I decided to split it up into 4 chunks to make it easier to read and also so I wouldn't go insane editing it. I'm still working on my other fics, and a couple of other one-shots, I just wanted to take a bit of a break to write something different. This fic isn't going to be for everyone, and its only going to get worse from here. Please skip by it if gore, cruelty, and obsessive tendencies make you uncomfortable. 
> 
> Also Justin wear gloves wtf


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